One Man's Struggle
by Drakengel
Summary: Poor Mikhail just can't get a break, can he? As if avoiding certain death wasn't hard enough, now he has to get through problem after problem in the zombie infested city, meeting a few of the other unfortunate survivors along the way.
1. Chapter 1

**One Man's Struggle**

Prologue

_A/N: Please note that this fanfic is a collaboration between me and BenSoulstone (my friend). Please read and let me know what you think. He can be found on Deviantart under the username _BenSoulstone

_Summary: Poor Mikhail just can't get a break, can he? As if avoiding certain death wasn't hard enough, now he has to get through problem after problem in the zombie infested city, meeting a few of the other unfortunate survivors along the way. Only... there are things so much worse than zombies in Racoon City. _

_Disclaimer: Resident Evil is the property of Capcom._

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"Adios . . . " He muttered, pulling the pin of the grenade as the huge bioweapon known as the Nemesis lurched towards him. A few moments later, ex-S.T.A.R.S. member Jill Valentine and U.B.C.S. Corporal Carlos Oliveira heard an explosion that had rocked the cable car, destroying the brakes. "Mikhail . . . " Jill said in despair, not knowing that he actually survived by letting the grenade roll a bit towards the Nemesis. She didn't see him, as a more important matter was ahead of the cable car, literally. 

Mikhail awoke what seemed like minutes later, his body racked with pain. Groaning, he struggled to his feet, eventually standing upright once more. "How… How am I still alive?" He muttered, looking himself over. He was lucky to be alive, that's for sure. He ignored the burning pain in his body, and began to limp towards the Clock Tower. 'Maybe… Maybe I can reach the others in time.' He thought to himself, deep down wanting to continue to help them escape this hellhole. He didn't care about escape anymore, merely to aid those who were his comrades. Suddenly, a moan filled with death sounded in Mikhail's ear, and he turned. Gripping his side. He saw not one zombie, but two. The two flesh eaters looked pretty hungry, drooling and bleeding profusely. "You want a piece of me?" Mikhail said, looking around. He still had his M4A1, but it was badly burned and melted. He remembered his spare weapons, the Smith & Wesson M629 Classic Magnum and his SigPro SP2009 handgun, along with his trusty combat knife. He had very low ammo for the Magnum, so he would have to save it; that is until he thought about it more and smirked. Unholstering his M629 Magnum, he twirled it a little, and as the first zombie got close, pistol-whipped him in the right temple, crushing his skull almost instantly, causing the skull to fragment and puncture the brain, thus destroying it. As the other got close, Mikhail raised the gun, slammed it down atop the zombie's head, and then sent it back up in an uppercut style whip, causing the chin to shatter like glass. Both zombies fell atop each other, Mikhail smirking. "Still got it…" He muttered, before walking slowly back towards the Clock Tower, despite its distance.

As Mikhail continued on, he felt dizzy. Blackness tried to consume him constantly, as the sounds around him seemed to boom and echo, or sometimes not even happen at all. He groaned, taking bigger steps, trying to press on. 'Can't… Stop just yet…' He said in his head. He felt the grip on his Magnum loosen, and before long, he found himself lying with his back against a wall, sitting on the street. Breathing slowly, his consciousness left him. The wound from what seemed like an eternity ago had taken its toll, and he was losing blood. He would eventually die if not given medical treatment, although it was probably too late by now. But as Mikhail slipped into a black sleep, a figure stepped into the light. "You won't need these anymore, comrade…" the voice said, taking all his weapons and grinning evilly. Nicholai was so happy to finally see Mikhail die. It was more than he could ever hope for. "See you in hell, Lieutenant." Nicholai said, giving a mocking salute. With an evil laugh trailing behind him, Nicholai stepped into the darkness. Mikhail was now left totally defenseless and bleeding to death… All hope seemed lost.

The loud rings of the Clock Tower bell pulled Mikhail out of his sleep, Death feeling Mikhail slipping out of his fingers once more. Mikhail smirked at the thought, chiming in "The Reaper must really hate me by now…" His voice was very thick with his Russian accent as he spoke. Trying to get to his feet was useless, so Mikhail just sat there. Looking to the sky, he saw a helicopter. Not just any helicopter though; it was the one that was supposed to pick up Carlos and Jill! 'They're going to make it!' He could not help but smile with these thoughts, only to stare in wide-eyed horror as the helicopter was blown up. By a rocket from the Nemesis' rocket launcher, more than likely. "No! Carlos! Jill!" Mikhail cried out, his cry mixed with pain and anger, as he tried to get to his feet, once again useless. He groaned and cried out, even more aggravated at himself than before. 'I'm of no use to anyone… I should just sit here and die…' He thought to himself, sighing. Fortunately for Mikhail, his groans would not go unnoticed.

Cindy heard something, somebody groaning in pain. She went to investigate, holding her handgun tightly as she went to where she heard the groan come from. She came upon a slumped form, heavily wounded and still bleeding from what appeared to be three gunshots in his side. "Hey! Cindy, get back over here!" Alyssa shouted. Mikhail looked up, awakened by Alyssa's obnoxious voice. Cindy gasped as he looked up, and for a split second, she almost thought he was a zombie, as he was still bleeding from his mouth a bit. "Don't shoot . . . " He said, clearly in pain. He was still clutching his wound, not caring about the new ones the grenade explosion and the cable car crash had given him. Despite the fact he was so close to the hospital, something told him not to go inside. Up on the fourth floor, a familiar figure looked out the window, as if it was taunting Mikhail. 'Curse you Nichoali . . . ' He thought to himself, knowing that Nichoali was the one responsible for shooting him. "George, come over here, this man needs some help." Cindy said, looking at a man who was well dressed and carrying a suitcase of some sort. George inspected the wound a bit before opening the suitcase. Eyeing the contents, Mikhail let out a sigh of relief, knowing he'd be saved. George, being the great medical worker that he was, managed to fix Mikhail up and made sure he had some hemostat to help stop the bleeding. "Thank you…" Mikhail said before George, Cindy and Alyssa took off.

Feeling a lot better, Mikhail heaved himself onto his feet, and found that he was pretty much weaponless. 'I'll need something to protect myself… And somewhere to go. No way can I go to the hospital… Nicholai's there.' He said, before taking off into a light run down an alleyway. He did it just a little early, however, as Carlos Oliviera just happened to walk into said hospital, never seeing Mikhail. Moving down the streets as stealth fully as he could, Mikhail was pretty aggravated that his own comrade, Carlos, would ignore him. But he did not know that Carlos was looking for the vaccine to cure Jill Valentine of the T-virus. Fortune smiled upon Mikhail, as he stumbled upon one of his fallen U.B.C.S. brethren. "I'm so sorry…" He said, closing his eyes for a moment in despair. Searching the body, he happened upon a very sturdy and capable combat knife, a few grenades, a SigPro SP2009 handgun like Nicholai's, as well as a few clips of ammunition for it.

Grasping the handgun firmly in his hands, Mikhail continued down the streets, but stopped rather abruptly. Standing just down the street from him was the same monstrosity he had thought he had killed when he sacrificed himself: Nemesis. It had changed over the time between when he fought the monstrosity and now. The Nemesis was now bigger and had a multitude of tentacles sprouting from it. Mikhail knew he wasn't going to be much of a match against the brute a second time, so he ducked into the shadows. Nemesis had other things on his mind, namely the destruction of Jill Valentine. Grunting and growling under his breath, he walked right past Mikhail without even stopping to look around. He had a one track mind, and that was one of the most dangerous things about the bio-organic weapon. Mikhail stepped out of the shadows when it was safe to do so, and then continued down the street.

But something caused him to stop. He had a bad feeling deep down… As if something was bound to happen. Mikhail had not gotten too far from the hospital that Carlos entered, and he could hear a window crash, followed by a small explosion. 'Nicholai…' He thought, and then as he heard someone running out of the hospital, he could tell that the explosion was the first of many. Before Mikhail could get any further, the explosion rocked the streets. The force of the explosion flung him off his feet and into a wall back and head first. Falling onto his stomach, Mikhail blacked out.

The explosion had sent a shockwave of sound all around, and a car pulled to a halt near the unconscious Mikhail. Out stepped Greg, one of Umbrella's scientists that were beginning to show signs of possible insanity. "Oh my, what a perfect specimen to use against my creation… He'll provide entertainment along with the others." Greg said before picking Mikhail up rather slowly, and heaving him into the back of his truck. Starting the truck, he drove off towards Raccoon University, where things were definitely not as they appeared.

He grunted in pain, feeling a bump on the back of his head. "Where the hell am I?" Mikhail asked himself, getting up off of what looked like some sort of stretcher. It looked like some makeshift lab of some sort, two dead hunters were hanging from the ceiling. He picked up his beret which had laid on the other stretcher, a white sheet covering a body of some sort. Putting his beret on, he knew he should not, but he lifted up the sheet anyway. The figure of what was once a civilian looked more like a human shaped prune, all the blood seemingly drained out of his body. Footsteps caught Mikhail's attention, and he rose to his feet. Greg walked in, noticing that Mikhail had uncovered his previous guest. "Yes… He served his purpose, as will you." Greg said with a small smile. "What do you mean purpose?" Mikhail asked, following the man as he walked away from the stretcher.

"Brute force shouldn't be the only criterion for a weapon..." Greg said to Mikhail as he led him to a lab. The room was barely lit, most of the light was coming from a stasis tube. Greg stood in front of the tube, looking up at the thing inside. "It should also be beautiful, unique, and godlike." He said. Mikhail looked at the man with confusion in his eyes, before looking to the tube behind Greg. 'Is that… A human?' he asked himself in thought, only to notice that it was nowhere near human. "My creation shall have some fun once released. You'd be one of the tests, but now I notice you're with Umbrella. No point in him fighting a simple-minded mercenary… He could kill 20 of you without blinking an eye." Greg smiled evilly, only to find that Mikhail did not look scared. Mikhail charged Greg, tackling him down. Mikhail showed that he has had his fill of Umbrella as he proceeded to beat Greg until he was unconscious. Looking to the monstrosity, Mikhail narrowed his eyes. "I have a feeling we'll meet again. But for now… Adios." And with that, Mikhail exited the lab.

Greg moaned, groggily getting up a few minutes later. He found that his nose was bleeding, but the blood had dried and scabbed, preventing further blood from leaking. Bruises adorned his face, but he could fix that no problem. "I'll make that grunt pay for this…" He muttered, going over to Thanatos' stasis tube. "It is time to show the world just what a creation of sheer perfection can do… Go Thanatos, my child, and destroy all who stand in your way!" Greg shouted, as he drained all the fluid out of the tank, Thanatos breaking out shortly afterwards. Looking to Greg, he had knowledge of the fact that he was his creator, and had no intention of attacking him. He could smell the one who beat his master, and he would make him pay. Calmly walking towards the exit, Thanatos kicked down the door, and made his way after Mikhail.

Nichoali looked at his M4A1 as he put the C-2 on, ready for this last mission before leaving the city. "Just this one last mission and I'll be a -very- wealthy man..." He said to himself, chuckling a bit as he got ready for the Thanatos to get closer...

Thanatos traced Mikhail's scent well, and from what he gathered, this was a warrior among normal humans. He had killed many in his day, and he had beaten Thanatos' creator to almost nothing. If he had been human, he would have developed something humans call respect. But Thanatos was far above humans. Greg had told him that personally. Cracking his neck to either side as he walked, Thanatos narrowed his pupil less eyes, the scent of Mikhail beginning to fade. If he had the human mentality and speaking abilities, he'd be cursing Mikhail and ranting on about ways to kill him. He was nowhere near human, though, so all he did was growl and even let out a roar of irritation. If he had a human mind, he would surely argue that his creator should have let him out no sooner than when he brought the guest in. It mattered not, because in the end, he was going to find and kill the man. Stepping outside of the complex, he picked up the familiar scent, only to find that there were four masked humans in similar attire aiming guns at him. Slowly, Thanatos began walking towards them, an emotionless aura about him and a lifeless gaze in his white eyes.

The four men were told to take Thanatos either down or with them, because the samples of the T-Blood were vital to the creation of the Daylight. Without any words, the four mercenaries began to open fire. The bullets were having little to no effect on the Bio Organic Weapon, especially since he just kept walking forward. Bullet shells hit the concrete covered ground beneath the U.B.C.S. members' feet like rain, scattering all around as they were ejected from their homes in the guns and fired directly towards Thanatos, only to bounce off and away due to super strong skin. The men were sweating nervously, especially since their best weapons were not even bothering the mighty creature, he seemed bored and uncaring about the four mortals, although that was not the case.

"Calm down… You must give me your blood." A cold voice said quietly, aiming a sniper rifle towards the mighty Thanatos. Precision and years of honed training paid off, as the sniper had a clear, perfect shot at his target as Thanatos oddly stood still for a moment. Nicholai grinned, and pulled the trigger, firing. The shot was not exactly silent, but with all the other gunfire going on, it was less noticed. Nicholai had fired a canister of some sort, which exploded to reveal some type of vial. It punctured into Thanatos' right shoulder. It drained the necessary blood, but oddly enough it didn't drop. Thanatos' demeanor changed dramatically. All of a sudden he was highly aggressive, charging the four attackers in a blaze of fury. He killed the first with but a simple flick of his hand, his clawed fingers doing the rest as they ripped open his chest and throat, the force of the blow knocking him aside. The next would simply be impaled and tossed aside like a useless rag doll. Fingers stained with blood, Thanatos punched the third U.B.C.S. member with a closed fist, knocking him flat onto his back. The fourth U.B.C.S. didn't stop firing, even after he was ripped open and also thrown aside, barely alive. Nicholai watched with intrigue, smiling. 'Impressive.' He thought to himself.

The third U.B.C.S. member quickly jumped to his feet, having regained himself. Opening fire on Thanatos was not a good idea, and it only got him claws right through his stomach and back. Dropping his weapon, the man died slowly, as Thanatos decided to return to his master, and show him his wonderful kill. "Damn…He must be heading back to the man…" Nicholai said, frowning. The only surviving mercenary found his world to be nothing but pain and blood loss. Crying out in pain, he could not move from where he was thrown by Thanatos. The sound of feet made him scared, for he was afraid that the monster had come back. "PLEASE! HELP MEEEE!" The man cried out. "Shhh… It is okay, comrade. I will help you." An almost familiar voice called out to him. "Sergeant Nicholai! Help me! Please!" The man yelled, reaching out to his commanding officer. Nicholai smiled, unholstering his SigPro SP2009 and instantly firing it, a 9mm bullet wedging itself into the man's skull. "Nicholai!" A voice cried out, and Nicholai turned, to see Mikhail. "You sonovabitch!" Mikhail cried out, rushing Nicholai. But before he could get to Nicholai, he was already on the move. Followed was a short silence, ending it was Nicholai's insane laugh. "Shit…" Mikhail muttered, before taking off in hopes of finding Nicholai.

Rage was not the best word of choice to describe Nicholai's current mood. There probably was not any word in the English or Russian languages that could best describe the level of anger he had. 'How could that pathetic, injured man still be alive! It makes no sense!' He argued in his mind, gritting his teeth as he snuck around the University in search of Thanatos, as well as his creator Greg. "I'll kill both of them… Greg and Mikhail… With these little babies." Nicholai said with a smirk, as he planted his lovely little presents, better known as C4 high explosives all around the University. He was like a ninja in the shadows, moving about planting little bitty bombs as he looked for his primary target. The bombs helped him temporarily get his mind off of his hatred for Mikhail, as well as whoever must have helped him to survive.

The man dangled on Thanatos' talon-like fingers, still alive somehow. He was coughing up blood, which meant he would not be alive much longer. Thanatos looked down to the mere human, those inhuman eyes staring at their latest victim. The man's eyes looked up into Thanatos'. If Thanatos could smirk, he damn well would have then. The man's eyes showed deep rooted fear of death, excruciating pain, and begging for mercy. The human would find none from Thanatos. Thanatos walked into the room where Greg was last, and Thanatos' creator was still there. "Good, you have returned!" Greg said. "Record time, my son." Greg said with a big warm smile. "Now... Did you get the man that hurt Daddy?" Greg asked. Thanatos raised his clawed hand up, revealing the barely alive man, trying to talk but he couldn't muster up the strength to talk. "No... This isn't him. How could you kill this pathetic underling! He looks nothing like that man! Wait... He was one of that man's men... So he must of smelled similar." Greg concluded, gritting his teeth. "Dammit all. He's still out there. Well, if you don't get him, my son, our friends will." Greg turned his back to his creation. "Dispose of that one... And go out looking for him again... Wait for one second though." Thanatos had already snapped the man in half over his knee, thus ending his suffering before Greg said to wait. Thanatos did as he was told. Greg accessed the surveillance video camera footage, and found just what he wanted. With the right button combinations and commands, a photo of Mikhail was printed out. Taking it, he moved it in front of Thanatos, and like a master to his dog, showed Thanatos the man who attacked him. "This is the bad man! Kill -HIM-" Greg shouted, slamming down the picture. Thanatos, just as Greg programmed, had a photographic memory. He now knew Mikhail's face. Now with the proper information, Thanatos once more left his creator, to search for the man who caused him pain.

"I'll never eat honey again..." RPD officer Kevin Ryman muttered to himself as him and Cindy left the emission tower's station. He and Cindy were shocked to see the carnage there. She noticed a very familiar man nearby, his vest was stained with blood. "You..." she said to the figure, the man turning around. It was Mikhail, the wounds on his face roughly healed up. "Who's this? You know him?" Kevin asked Cindy, seeing as she did seem to know this stranger a bit. Cindy replied to Kevin "I don't know him that much, but George, Alyssa, and I found him near the hospital. He was wounded pretty badly..." A familiar, kind voice caught Mikhail's attention, and he smiled. "Ms. Lennox. It's good to see you again." Mikhail said, noticing her friend. "Who is this?" Kevin asked, the alcohol still present on his breath. "I am Mikhail Victor." Mikhail said. "But we don't have time for this. We have to hurry up and get out of here. Something very powerful is on the loose...Even more powerful than that one eyed monstrosity I faced..." He said with some worry in his voice. And it seemed his worry was well placed. For that monstrosity showed itself. It looked particularly at Mikhail, actual anger in it's eyes. "You two might want to go..." Mikhail said, before Thanatos seemed to growl, and started walking towards them. "Don't have to tell me twice..." Kevin muttered. Mikhail did not get the chance to meet Mark and David, for they had already noticed Thanatos and started to climb up the ladder, but they were too late to warn their compatriots. "C'mon! Move it!" Mark shouts, David close behind him. Kevin and Cindy kept running towards the ladder, Mikhail following but keeping an equal distance between Thanatos and his newfound friends, in hopes of stalling the behemoth.

As they climbed the ladder, Kevin was mumbling about something. "We sure as hell could use some of that Daylight stuff... Ya know?" Everyone blinked, confused at how Kevin just stated something so randomly correct. "Well duh!" Cindy says, sighing almost angrily. "Get with the program, Kevin." Cindy said, trying to remain nice and optimistic sounding. "Alright alright. Sorry, damn. Why don't you just give him the P-Base and V-Poison to protect, since he's Mr. Urban Commando." Kevin said, smiling drunkenly because he knew it was a good idea. "That is a good idea! Mr. Mikhail, sir. Will you please hold onto these two items for us?" She said, offering both vials. Mikhail blinked. "If it will help out, of course." He took them both and put the vials in one of his spare ammo pouches. "Well, we don't have time to stand around with our thumbs up our asses, MOVE!" Mikhail cried out, motioning his fellow survivors to get the hell outta dodge. They did not need to be told this twice, especially after all the crazy happenings that have ensued this fine day. "The last item... It's T-blood... whatever that is..." Mark said. 'T... isn't that what they call the most powerful bioweapons?' Mikhail thought to himself. "T-blood... it comes from..." Mikhail's words were drowned out by Thanatos' angry roar. "That... That is where T-blood comes from." Mikhail said, grabbing an M4A1 and turning around to face the monstrosity. Thanatos got ready to bolt at him, but Mikhail reacted more faster, opening fire and strafing to the left, more towards the open area away from the truck. A metallic sound was heard as something fell off of Thanatos, it was a vial of T-blood. Thanatos started to run at Mikhail, its arm ready to swipe at him. Quickly, Mikhail ducked down and ran past Thanatos, quickly grabbing the vial of T-blood, pocketing it. Thanatos wasn't too pleased at Mikhail dodging it. Mikhail saw a door next to the one Cindy and Kevin came from. "Go now!" He shouted to the others, reloading the M4A1 quickly as possible. Thanatos growled as it got shot at by Mikhail, as he was aiming for its right shoulder, right at its heart. Thanatos charged again, but this time, Mikhail had hit it with the butt of the rifle, stunning it for a while. He hurried on up to where the others were. A pier, the water was still and quiet, but there was no way to get across, as part of the pier was destroyed. A loud roar caught their attention as Thanatos started to give chase once more.

"Sink or swim!" Mark said before leaping into the water, the Thanatos following the five. Mikhail hesitated for a split second before diving in. He really didn't like swimming, let alone he didn't like water at all, but he had to jump in anyways. At first it seemed safe, that was until something caught Mikhail's eye. 'It can't be!' He thought to himself as he saw that there was a fin jutting out of the water. It was a T-virus infected shark, known better by the name of "Neptune". Kevin saw it too and muttered to himself "great, now we got Bruce after us..." However, luck smiled upon them as the two sharks decided to go after bigger prey, Thanatos.

Thanatos didn't know why they attacked, but they did. These fry, these pitiful creatures, attacking a mighty bioweapon like it. No matter how much they tried to knock him off the dock, they couldn't, as he was far too agile for them. That was until he was caught off guard when he saw the man who attacked his creator get away with his new friends. Thanatos roared with frustration as he started to run towards them, that was until one of the fish had pushed him into the water. Shocked, the Thanatos attempted to fight against these fry, determined to kill all five of those humans. It was too late for Thanatos, as the two sharks started to tear at its arm, turning the water red with Thanatos' blood.

"I'm not doing that ever again..." Kevin muttered to himself. David replied to Kevin "No shit..." Mikhail got up after wringing his beret dry. "Well, we need to get going... Daylight isn't going to make itself you know." He said.

Opening the door to the elevator passageway, Mikhail carefully went in. There was only a single zombie. 'Too easy...' He thought to himself as he got his M4A1 ready. But as he was ready to fire, something leapt out from the shadows and ate the zombie. It was a blue, froglike monster, a hunter gamma. "Shit..." Mikhail grumbled as it snapped a bit before looking right at him. He pulled out a grenade, having a good idea of how to destroy the hungry monstrosity. It leapt at him, its mouth open wide. "Eat this you sonovabitch!" He yelled, pulling the pin and throwing it right into the hunter's open mouth. Just before it could even get close to Mikhail, the hunter exploded. He chuckled a bit and said to himself "again, too easy..."

As the group of survivors led by Mikhail continued on, Mikhail stopped them by raising his right hand. "Hold.." He muttered as quiet as he could. The group froze, even Kevin. Though he couldn't resist scratching the back of his head. Mikhail gripped his M4 tightly in his hands, and crept forwards. Something didn't feel right. Someone was awfully close. He heard two pair of footsteps, narrowing his eyes. '...Wait for it...' He thought to himself, as the steps got closer. 'NOW!' he shouted in his mind, stepping out into the walkway, M4 aimed. Before he could pull the trigger, a fear-filled scream ensued from a young black man, who fell over in fear. "PLEASE DON'T KILL ME! I'M NOT A ZOMBIE! AHHHHHH I DON'T WANNA DIE!" The man cried out. He was none other than Jim Chapman. The other pair of footsteps also made itself known. Yoko Suzuki stepped in the light. "Don't mind Jim...He's a coward." Yoko said with a small smile. "I AM NOT A COWARD! I just have courage issues!" Jim muttered, wiping away a few tears. "What the hell is wrong with you man! You almost shot me!" Mikhail really could tell that Jim's voice would wear on his nerves. "Not my fault you stepped in front of my sights.." Mikhail muttered.

Nicholai, as usual, was spying and snooping around. And his current target/watch was Mikhail. Nicholai noticed the rag-tag bunch of survivors. "Looks like you're leading a bunch of carnival folk, 'old friend.' " Nicholai said with a cold laugh following the statement. 'I wonder if he'll find my little 'gifts' that I set up all around...' Nicholai thought to himself, pondering. His view was so good, he could end them all right then and there if he wished. 'No... I have other plans for them..' He thought, before laughing once more. This time, his laughter was heard by Mikhail and the others. Everyone but Jim seemed startled. Jim was in severe panic mode. "OH SHIT! OH SHIT! IT'S THAT GRAY-HAIRED ASSHOLE THAT TRIED TO KILL ME! AHHHH! MY LIFE IS SHIT!" Jim began screaming and running around, causing everyone to get irritated. Mikhail could no longer stand it. Grabbing ahold of Jim, he stared him dead in the eyes. "Calm down... Or -I- will kill you... And I can be a lot worse than him.." Mikhail said, shoving Jim aside. Jim fell onto Kevin, who was not too pleased. He also shoved Jim aside. "Get off me, you fuckin' idiot." Kevin said with irritation in his voice. Jim regained his balance, trying not to cry. "Fine! Fuck you too, you drunken bastard! I hope you die by those reptilian frog things!" Jim said, gritting his teeth. "It'd be better than staying alive with you..." Kevin muttered, running a hand through his hair.

Suddenly, as if on cue, a Hunter burst in. Screeching, it leapt right for Jim, out of all of them. "SHIT!" He cried out. In almost an instant, the Hunter was knocked away from Jim. Mikhail stood in front of the cowering young african american, fists clenched. "He is not a worthy prey... Try me.." Mikhail said, cracking his knuckles. The Hunter screeched, seeing that the human was right, despite the fact it understood no English. Body language was enough. Charging Mikhail, the Hunter tried to claw. Mikhail grabbed ahold of the claw, but was overtaken and knocked down. The others tried to help, but Mikhail was quick to respond. "No, this bitch is mine!" He said firmly, before throwing the Hunter off him and almost knocking Jim over. "HEY!" Jim shouted, a bit scared and aggravated. Pulling a grenade off his belt, he waited. "Come on you slimy toad... Come and get your dinner." Mikhail said, narrowing his eyes. The Hunter charged, attempted to tackle Mikhail down again. However, Mikhail met this with a grenade shoved into the mouth. The Hunter was caught off guard, and froze for a moment. "Adios." Mikhail muttered, before pulling the pin, and kicking the Hunter with enough force that it flew out a nearby window. The explosion followed seconds after, the Hunter literally dead before it hit the ground. "So... You do have a use... Perhaps you will do as bait.." Mikhail said with a smirk. Jim blinked, then fainted. Mikhail chuckled. "Poor kid... Definitely not cut out for this..." Mikhail muttered.

Jim's fainting ensued a temporary silence as Cindy attempted to revive their fallen coward. But then, that cold voice of Nichoali's decided to speak up. "Impressive... But can you kill them all? And what about your comrades, did they tell you why they need Daylight? You want to know why?" Nicholai said, almost tauntingly. Mikhail narrowed his eyes. "Show yourself!" Mikhail cried out. "Why? It spoils the fun of being the man in the dark... Heh heh..." Nichoali responded. "Anyway... Your little friends need Daylight oh so badly because of the fact they are all infected! Yes, you are protecting a bunch of virus-carriers. They will eventually turn upon you if you do not give them some of the precious serum soon. It's almost too beautiful to ruin." He smirked before continuing. "In half an hour, this city is going to be obliterated by a barrage of nuclear missiles... Nothing will survive... Well, -I- will survive... While you will be stuck with your little circus freaks. The enigmatic plumber... The veteran that is somehow still strong... the cowardly little pissant... the airhead... Oh, and before I forget, the ever-loveable drunkard." Nicholai said, a laugh following suit. "I resemble that remark..." Kevin muttered, sighing. 'Wish I had some beer...' He thought to himself, Nichoali's remark only making Kevin thirsty for a nice cold one. Mikhail was looking all around. 'Where is that bastard hiding...?' he thought to himself, wishing he could just see a target. "I shall be kind, for once, and spare you seven from the death of being incinerated from the nuclear blast... For old times sake, 'comrade.' " Nicholai said, before flipping on his sniper rifle's red target laser. Deciding to toy with the group, he aimed for Jim's feet first, grinning. He pulled the trigger. The roar of the rifle firing the bullet was quite audible, and as the bullet struck right infront of Jim, he did almost a complete backflip to avoid the bullet, bumping into and knocking over Kevin. "Dammit all to Hell!" Kevin shouted, obviously very aggravated. Jim scrambled off Kevin, who unholstered his gun and began to fire in all directions above. "Show yourself, you cowardly sonovabitch!" Kevin shouted, ejecting a wasted clip and slamming in a fresh one, cocking his .45 Automatic very angrily. "Now now, Drunky. No need to get a temper." Nicholai said with an evil laugh, firing at Kevin some now. Kevin got hit in his right leg, causing him to cry out. But he noticed from where the bullet came, and quickly fired off a shot. Nicholai felt the bullet clip his left shoulder. "... That was a foolish mistake, my friend..." Nichoali said, his voice full of anger. Nichoali had not noticed Yoko for some reason. 'The quiet ones seem to just blend in... But I do recognize that little girl...' Nichoali thought with a big grin on his face, his anger fading. "Well, my old friend, it seems you even have an Umbrella worker in your ranks... Your genius continues to astound me..." Nichoali said mockingly, laughing once more. Yoko blinked. "Wha...?" She said, really confused. She wasn't the only one though, the feeling quite mutual. "I'm surprised she's with you. But she must of had her memory erased. Company policy afterall, comrade." Nichoali said, before firing off another shot. The bullet nicked Mikhail's right shoulder, causing a slight blood splatter. "I see your sniper skills have not faded, Nichoali." Mikhail said, smirking lightly. "You should come down and see if your hand to hand skills have been kept up to par..." Mikhail said, trying to goad Nichoali into coming out. "I'm not so quick to jump at a challenge, my old friend. I know you too well. Do not think of me as a simpleton like Oliveira. You should give me a lot more credit. Anyway, back to little miss Yoko. How does it feel to have your memory wiped?" He said with a smile. Yoko's eyes began to tear up a little, her memories fragmented and her mind confused. Nichoali's smile grew wider as Yoko teared up. "That's it... Let it all out. You're going to die anyway, at least I'm giving you a chance to feel something before you die..." Nichoali said with a chuckle.

Nichoali's little mind games were wearing Mikhail's patience rather thin. "Leave her alone Nichoali!" Mikhail shouted, clenching his fists angrily. "Heh, why should I? I haven't even gotten to the good part yet... Want to know why her memory was erased?" He said with an evil smirk following. Yoko looked at Nichoali, curiosity populating her mind as he seemed almost familiar somehow. Nichoali laughed a little, then continued his little chatting spree. "Because the experiment she was working on with William Birkin went wrong... The subject started attacking everything that got too close to it. I believe the subject's name was Lisa Trevor... Birkin was doing two things involving this guinea pig.. One was to study the G-Virus which he had found in her." He said, pausing for a moment. "The other... The creation of a more powerful strain of the T-Virus!" He laughed a little more, knowing that it was irritating the small band of survivors. He would not step out of the shadows just yet. He had so much more to tell. "Unlike the T-virus that has plagued this city, this new strain doesn't yield zombies, but superhuman strength, agility, and senses. It may also cause various physical mutations as well that can be easily concealed. But the death of Lisa Trevor didn't stop the experiment with the enhanced strain of the T-virus, for there was another subject... Unfortunately, the subject died. Supposedly the subject was a researcher for Umbrella..." Nichoali said, looking towards Kevin. "And you might know him very well, drunkard... Captain Albert Wesker..." Kevin narrowed his eyes angrily. "That's a bunch of bullshit! I'm not about to believe some coward that hides in the shadows!" Kevin fired off a few more times. "Heh, you don't know the whole truth... Not you, not Mikhail... Not even little miss Yoko... Only I do." Nichoali said, before tossing the now empty Sniper Rifle aside. Reaching behind him, he began to search through a black bag, about gym bag size. Pulling his hands back out, he held a few grenades. 'Time for some fun..' He thought with a big smile. Pulling the pins on each one, he heaved them all at once. "This kind of rain will hurt you kiddies!" Nichoali said with an evil laugh, as the grenades hit the ground all around them. "SCATTER!" Mikhail shouted, as he jumped for cover, followed by Kevin and David. Mark risked himself to tackle down Cindy and Yoko, shielding them from the blast. Jim tripped himself and barely avoided a piece of shrapnel into his face. "YO, THAT WASN'T COOL!" Jim shouted. Mikhail quickly rose, very very angry. "Oh, and by the way, I must thank you for getting me the necessary components for the Daylight though..." Nichoali said, as he suddenly appeared out of nowhere, straight from the shadows. He quickly grabbed Yoko, and put his SigPro SP2009 to her left temple, holding her close to where there was no escape. Mark tried to get to her in time, but Nichoali was quicker than he looked. "Now hand them to me! I knew the outbreak was going to happen. Umbrella wanted the G-virus so badly they'd be willing to risk this entire city for just the one sample!" He said, smiling.

Nichoali smirked, the end of the gun still shoved against Yoko's temple. "And since I'm feeling so chatty right now... I'll go ahead and tell you why I'm here. I am to collect combat data from all the Bio Weapons, to acquire the Daylight..." He paused, giving Mikhail a close look. "And more importantly... Revenge." Before anymore could be said, the 'thoom' of rather heavy and large feet were audible. Everyone looked behind them, Mikhail turning halfway. Nichoali grinned from ear to ear. "Well.. It seems like Thanatos has found us... I shall enjoy gathering combat data from the rest of them.." Nichoali said, before kicking Yoko aside, slamming her into Mark, who caught and stood his ground with her. Nichoali then re-aimed his SigPro SP2009 for Mikhail, dead between his eyes. "But I will spare you from Thanatos..." Nichoali said, his cold look becoming a smile. However, it seemed that Thanatos had other plans. As if a sudden spark of goodness, Thanatos rushed, and moved dead past Mikhail, swiping at Nichoali. If not for Nichoali being in great physical condition, that would of been his head. He however got a nice scar on his left cheek, but he avoided death. "This isn't over! I will be back!" Nichoali shouted, before turning and running. "Revenge shall be mine!" And with that, Nichoali disappeared into the darkness that was Raccoon City.

Thanatos had saved the man who hurt his creator, just because -he- wanted to kill the man. Looking down to Mikhail, his eyes showed hatred and disgust. "Well baldy... Care to dance?" Mikhail said with a smirk. Thanatos could understand the English language, being human once. Just talking wasn't an option for a God of Bio Organic Weapons. Roaring in rage, as if to say "FOR MY CREATOR!" Thanatos attempted to and successfully smacked Mikhail with the back of his hand. Mikhail went flying like a rag doll, slamming into a few trash cans. Kevin aimed his .45 Automatic, and opened fire. Thanatos ignored the shots, focused on his target. "GO! He wants me!" Mikhail said. The group didn't want to leave Mikhail after all they had been through, but they knew he was right. With Mark leading, the survivors one by one left Mikhail to Thanatos. The last being Cindy. "Please don't die! We're going to come back for you!" She shouted back. Mikhail smiled, that the fact of her kindness. She reminded him of the S.T.A.R.S. member Jill Valentine. "Take your time.." He said, full of sarcasm. "I've got a friend that seems to have issues to work out with me."

Mikhail took off, oddly quick for someone of his stature. Thanatos narrowed his eyes, and roared angrily, giving chase. 'There are times when I wish I wasn't the hero...' He thought to himself. 'Or made better choices.' He nodded to himself, running down a long hallway and avoiding random bits of fire. Nichoali's little grenade show had caught some of the building on fire, and it was spreading. It didn't seem to phase Thanatos. A beam from above them fell, aflame and unable to continue holding up, slamming right onto Thanatos' shoulders. Mikhail rolled to avoid it just incase, stopping on his feet, turning his head to the left to look back. Thanatos had not even buckled in the knees. The flaming beam simply balanced on his shoulders. His skin didn't even bother to burn. "Well, shit..." Mikhail muttered before breaking into a run once more. Thanatos followed, this time oddly walking. He wanted his prey to be tired, growing fed up with this chasing game. Reaching for the flaming beam with his left hand, Thanatos lifted it up and over, and heaved it like a spear towards Mikhail. Had it not been for his quick action of opening a nearby door and continuing running, it would have made him a shish kabob. 'For crying out loud... Why do they keep getting more determined to kill me?' He thought to himself, before stopping for a moment. He noticed something glistening in the light. Picking it up, it was a key card! And not just any keycard; it was Nichoali's! "Save this for later." He muttered, before turning to see a forearm head right for him. Ducking as low as he could, Mikhail's neck felt the oddly cool breeze as the arm rushed over his head. Breaking off into a run once more, Mikhail decided now he'd stop looking back. Thanatos roared, thrusting out both it's arms, slamming into and through either wall. As if it had lost it's mind or was trying to intimidate or frighten Mikhail, it ran after him, leaving rather large and long holes in the walls. 'Intimidation... Works for me!' Mikhail thought, increasing his speed to it's utter most maximum. Slamming one last door, Mikhail found just the place he had hoped for. Or would have if he knew what was to come before him. His run had become a light jog, as he was starting to grow tired. Thanatos head butted through the door, roaring once more. "Yeah yeah, big scary monster. Been there killed that." Mikhail said. Then he noticed something hanging from the ceiling a little ways infront of him. An electrical wire, looking big enough to stun even Thanatos. 'This could work..' Mikhail thought before dodging past the wire. Luck was on his side as he found the button to press. "Wait for it..." He muttered, awaiting Thanatos. With a roar, the huge creature charged Mikhail, only to run smack dab into the dangling wire in the nick of time for Mikhail to press the switch. Thanatos jerked for a while, before letting out a roar of defeat. Landing knees first, the behemoth of a B.O.W. fell forwards onto his face. "Taught you, didn't I?" Mikhail said with a smirk. Carefully, he checked the pulse of the monster, just in case. Finding no pulse, he chuckled lightly and left the hallway. 'They must've went up to the third floor...' He thought to himself as he got into the elevator.

Nichoali clenched his fists in anger. "Damn! You useless waste of a Tyrant! I could of done a better job with one leg!" Nichoali was fuming. Not only was Mikhail winning, but because of Mikhail, everything was falling apart. Because of his 'comrade', Nichoali now had a scar on his left cheek. Nichoali also lost his key card because of Mikhail, which further ensued his anger. "Someone is Definitely going to die tonight..." Nichoali muttered. "I'll just hunt down him.." Nichoali mutters, before disappearing in the darkness. Greg was fuming as well. Thanatos had not come back with Mikhail, let alone a body part to verify the kill. "Just what in the HELL'S GOING ON!" Greg shouted, slamming his fists down on his desk. Irritated, he tried to relax himself. "Calm down... You've still got what everyone wants, Greg. They'll never know." He said with a big smile. Looking down to a small briefcase of his, he patted it with his hand before deciding to try and check up on Thanatos. Accessing security through his computer, he found that his great creation lay there, seemingly dead at the hands of the U.B.C.S. Mercenary. "NO! MY CREATION! YOU SONOVABITCH!" Greg was clearly beyond pissed now. "I'll make you pay... I swear I will!" Greg shouted. Nichoali found himself crawling in the air ducts. Fortunately, they were big enough for human support. They probably expected air condition technicians and whatnot to be able to move around up here. Nichoali smirked, steathfully crawling along the airducts. He felt almost like he was re-living a past battle. Crawling through trenches, avoiding been seen by the enemy. In theory, that was exactly what he was doing. He had to be crafty and sneaky, otherwise it could ruin everything that had not been ruined yet. Looking below himself as he crawled, he was able to see through the occasional air vent cover. Zombies littered the university in certain rooms, maybe one or three, but never over four. Smirking, Nichoali continued forth, until he heard something. "Sounds like someone yelling..." Nichoali said to himself, and paused. 'That voice...It sounds... Familiar.." He thought to himself, before realizing who it was. "Greg..." He muttered. "And it sounds like the survivors have found him. Guess the rag-tag band of circus freaks can actually work together. I'm almost impressed..." Nichoali said with a smirk, going back to crawling. This time, he was headed towards the yells and rants.

"Well... look who it is..." Alyssa said, looking at Mikhail. He didn't say anything, just simply pulled out all three vials, handing them to George. George smiled and said "now we can get rid of the virus. I don't know how much we'll be able to make, but hopefully it'll be enough." He put the three vials in the incubator and turned it on, the three vials being spun in the small incubator. After five minutes, the power went out. "What the hell?" Mikhail said, getting up to check the incubator. No Daylight, it seemed like the end for his new friends. A loud click was heard, as if a door was being unlocked. He checked the door and opened it, and knew where he was. 'Here again... Back where I started at...' Mikhail thought to himself as he and the others walked around, picking up a few items. Jim walked past him, asking "what's up with this room, yo?" Mikhail replied "it's a makeshift lab... some crazy sonovabitch let that monster we were running from out right here..." The sound of the door locking grabbed Mikhail's attention. "He knows we're here..." He said. Jim looked at the white sheet and asked "What's this?" When he pulled the sheet off, he screamed, as the dead body beneath was revealed. Jim ran off to the door, trying to bust it open. The door didn't budge at all, leaving Jim in a full panic attack. Mikhail grabbed Jim by the shoulders and slapped him as hard as he could. "Pull yourself together! This isn't the time to panic!" He said, glaring at Jim a bit. Mikhail turned and walked down towards a small passage, knowing just what to expect in that room.

The group of survivors found themselves in a very big room, looking to be for experimentation. Mikhail knew this room all too well. "This is where that psycho Greg was... And where Thanatos came from.." Mikhail muttered, walking cautiously. "No need for stealth, Mr. Victor." Greg said, a small hint of anger in his voice. "I know you are here. You have come to die, and I will not stop the process. You destroyed my creation somehow... So now I will destroy you." The sound of a gun being cocked was audible, but that didn't stop Mikhail. Rushing ahead of the group, Mikhail's M4A1 found its sights locked onto Greg. The Umbrella scientist was clearly not there much anymore, and had even gone so far as to soil himself at the mere sight of Mikhail. "Don't make me kill you Greg..." Mikhail muttered. Greg smiled, and then began to laugh. "Just give us what we want... And we can all get out of here. We don't have enough time for your mind games." Mikhail said, cocking his M4A1 and aiming for wounds nothing short of mortal. Mikhail found that his was not the only gun aimed at Greg. Kevin Ryman's .45 Automatic found it's way beside Mikhail, and Mark Wilkins' trusty 9mm Handgun also found it's way on the opposite side. Three guns pointing at Greg. "Give us the damn Daylight, you glasses-wearing psychopath!" Kevin blurted out, obviously not in the mood. Mark simply narrowed his eyes. He wasn't in the mood for a witty insult, or talking at all. He just wanted to get the hell out of here. And there was no way this little shit of a man was going to stop him. "You fools... Even if I gave you what you want... You'd kill me anyway! They all would! They all want my precious life and secrets! IT'S NOT THEIR'S TO HAVE!" Greg shouted, shaking both his arms, and causing the suitcase in his right one to wobble and shake right along. Mikhail noticed the briefcase, and could tell that there must of been some reason he had it. But he wasn't one to rush into things that were this delicate... Not just yet, anyway.

"There he is..." Nichoali muttered under his breath, now being in the air ducts above Greg. Unholstering his SigPro SP2009 Handgun, Nichoali added a silencer as well as a laser scope rather quickly. Being a trained soldier can do that to you. Aiming ever so slowly as Greg continued to rant and yell with small moments of calm speaking to himself, Nichoali closed one eye, aiming. 'This guy was dead before I ever got here..' Nichoali thought, before squeezing the trigger. The silenced shot rang out nonexistantly, as the 9mm bullet flew towards it's target; dead center of Greg's head. Since Greg was not facing Nichoali, it went straight through the back of his head, and ended up going out the bottom of his chin. He dropped his suitcase, dead before he hit the floor, Greg's body began to convulse and choke on the blood regardless. Slamming onto the floor, it jerked a little and then there was a stillness. Laying in a pool of his own blood, Nichoali smirked to the survivors that were in the room. Nichoali smirked, deciding to taunt the survivors one last time. "Enjoy the next 15 minutes... They'll be your last.." He laughed a little, knowing they were all quite pissed. Especially since Nichoali just silenced their only real lead on information about Thanatos, let alone what the hell was going on.

Deciding it was time to go, Nichoali smirked and let out one last taunt. "Farewell, comrade." Nichoali said, giving a sarcastic salute. Quickly scurrying away into the darkness of the air vents, Nichoali made his way into the lab before the door to the machine storage room. Exiting the air vents, he grabbed the only sample of Daylight. "Yes! Perfect timing." Nichoali said. "Now... to set the presents." He said, pulling out the detonator. Pushing it, the timer said they only had 2 minutes and 30 seconds to book it. Getting to the elevator passage, Nichoali jumped down the hole. Landing, he made a break for the front square, where he had a chopper waiting.

Mikhail looked up where Nichoali was, and noticed a beeping sound. Narrowing his eyes, he noticed what he feared the most. "He's rigged the place with bombs! We need to move. NOW!" Mikhail shouted. Yoko rushed over to Greg's body, and pulled the briefcase out of Greg's hand. "He held onto this for some reason." She said, taking it. "Fine take this before you go, you'll need it" Mikhail said, giving Yoko the card key. Kevin and Mark leading, the survivors all left the room and headed towards the entrance/exit of the University. Mikhail trailed behind, wanting to make sure there'd be no more surprises. It seemed Mikhail was smart to do so. Familiar 'thoom' sounds seemed to follow him. Stopping, he turned. "Damn you things are stubborn!" Mikhail shouted, catching the attention of Yoko. "Come on Mikhail! We've got to go!" She shouted. David stopped, and grabbed Yoko. "We've got no time. C'mon! He can take care of himself!" David said, shoving Yoko infront of him and taking off, her keeping up with him for a while before ending up last again. Mikhail narrowed his eyes, and turned. Suddenly, it seemed that the fire from the grenades had followed Mikhail. The beams and ceiling above the path they took fell, blocking Mikhail's path with fire and debris. "Figures..." Mikhail muttered. Thanatos cracked it's neck to either side, roaring angrily. "Yeah, fuck you too!" Mikhail shouted.

Daylight, the only cure for the T-virus. She was sent to destroy it, the man with red eyes told her to do so. But with that bioweapon running around, she felt the mission was a bit too dangerous. "I'm sticking to doing research..." She muttered to herself, sitting in the back of a helicopter. The sound of somebody laughing alerted her attention. 'Hopefully it isn't one of the supervisors...' She thought to herself, holding her handgun tightly. Nichoali was laughing as he entered the helicopter, looking the Daylight over as if it was some rare, mystical item. "Finally! I shall acquire the riches I so rightfully deserve... After all the struggle... From killing most of the other U.B.C.S... Destroying Thanatos... Gathering all the combat data on the B.O.W.s... and finding that one S.T.A.R.S. member dead... It's all worth it!" He said smiling. And still, the man continued. "And most of all... Killing that asshole Mikhail. All these years, and I've repaid him for what he has done..." Nichoali said, running his gloved left hand up and down his nice little scar. She could tell that he was Definitely close to insanity if not already there. 'Getting the Daylight from him won't be easy..' She thought to herself. As the helicopter began to ascend into the air, it seemed to make the gray-haired man laugh even more. Nichoali continued to rant on about himself, she occasionally heard the words "genius" and even "sexy beast." She didn't even wanna think about that one. Since he was totally occupied with himself and piloting, she snuck up to the pilot section the best she could. Fortunately, he was in his own little world. Grabbing the vial as quickly as she could, she opened the side of the helicopter and flung the vial out. She quickly shut it, and sat back in the back seat, in the darkness.

No swear word was strong enough to express Mikhail's frustration as he saw how much time there was left on the bomb's timer. "If I make it out of here... Nicholai is going to pay dearly..." He grumbled, loading the M4A1 with a fresh clip. The Thanatos kept following him and the others. He had the others go on ahead while he fought it. 'Just a little bit longer...' He thought to himself, ready to jump out the window seconds before the place blew up. Once it hit 30 seconds, he shot at the Thanatos and ran to the window, jumping out, landing on the trailer just in the nick of time as the university was being blown up. As the university exploded, Mikhail was fortunate the find cover from the flying bricks and falling debris. 'I only hope the others made it out.' He thought to himself, waiting for the explosions to stop. He could hear Thanatos roar, but it was cut off in the middle, as if something fell atop him. "Stay down, asshole..." Mikhail muttered. Feeling his face, he noticed a few scratches on himself, along his arms mostly and mainly. "I'll live..." He muttered. Mikhail looked up a moment, sighing. But suddenly, something caught his eye. It was falling very fast, and it looked like a vial of... "Daylight..." Mikhail said aloud, finishing off his thought. It seemed that either Nichoali dropped his vial of Daylight, or someone dropped it for him. His timing was nearly too late, but Mikhail managed to catch the vial just before it began to hit the ground, right above and beside Mikhail's full arm length.

As Mikhail caught the vial of Daylight, he heard Nichoali's helicopter, and looked upwards. He could just barely see it as it flew off into the horizon. "...Coward.." Mikhail muttered, not saying because of the Daylight, but because of him leaving the mess he helped create. Mikhail pocketed the vial of Daylight, deciding it was best to save it and make sure it was kept safe. 'Something has to prove what Umbrella's really doing around here...' Mikhail thought to himself. "Mikhail!" A voice cried out, and Mikhail turned. It was Mark, with all the other survivors. "Thank God you are all alright." He said with a smile. The 8 survivors all stood beside Mikhail, knowing the worst was soon coming. Yoko was struggling to open the briefcase. "Damn this thing, it won't open!" She said, sighing. "Hand it here." Mikhail said, and Yoko did. Mikhail struggled to open it too, finding it really hard to. But then he looked at the briefcase more closely. "It's a puzzle..." Mikhail muttered. As if snapping to attention, Jim rushed over and grabbed the briefcase. "I love puzzles! Let me take a crack at it!" He said. "Alright...Make it fast though." Mikhail said. "Well, it seems like you -DO- have a use." Alyssa said with a smirk. Jim smiled lightly, and looked it over. "Hmm..." Fidgeting with the briefcase, he activated something hidden. A screen popped up, with a small keyboard underneath it. Text began to pop up on the screen, and it was obvious that this puzzle involved riddles. "This should be a piece of cake." Jim said with a big grin. "Okay, first riddle. The number of lives a cat has..." Jim smirked. "Too easy. 9." Jim typed in the number. 'CORRECT!' it read. "Two more to go!" He said with a smile. "Excellent work, comrade." Mikhail said with a big smile. "Yeah, go Jim go!" Cindy said with a cheery laugh and smile. "Yeah yeah. Whoop-dee-doo. Jimmy has his use. I'm an ass kicker and he's a puzzle freak." Kevin said with a small yawn. David just shook his head and sighed. "There's no time for insults, Kevin. Let the man work." George said. Mark nodded his head in agreement, with a "Damn right." to follow. The second riddle displayed itself. "Sunday's other brother." Jim stated it aloud, rubbing his chin. "I know that one! I used to do riddles while on security. It's Tuesday!" Mark said, with a small smile. "And if this is a number-based puzzle, it will be the number 2 as the next numeric answer." Jim said. He typed in Tuesday, followed by the number 2. 'CORRECT!' the screen read. Everyone was looking really excited and happy, except David. 'Don't have time for childish games...We need to get the hell out of this city before it blows up..' David thought to himself, folding his arms over his chest and leaning against a nearby wall in an almost annoyed state about him. The last riddle began to display itself. "What is the worst time to go to the dentist?" Jim stated, blinking. "I've never heard of this one.." Jim said with a small hint of fear about him. Suddenly, a helicopter flew overhead, distracting the group. They would never know that Jill Valentine, Carlos Oliveira, and Barry Burton all were within the chopper, escaping the inevitable destruction of the city. "That's a sign for you to hurry!" Kevin shouted, obviously a bit angry and cranky without his alcohol. "Alright, alright. Back off, yo." Jim said, beginning to sweat a little. He pondered the riddle for a while. Mikhail blinked, pondering it. "I... I have heard that one before. One of my men told it to me once. He wouldn't tell me until after I guessed. It's on the tip of my tongue.." Mikhail said, angrily sighing. It suddenly came to Mikhail, and he smiled. "A minute to two thirty." He said. Everyone blinked. "Are you sure?" Jim asked, scared even more now. "Yes, my friend. I am very sure. My memory is not as bad as people might think it." He said with a nod and big smile. Jim entered in the time, and 'CORRECT!' displayed across the screen. Automatically, the system plugged in 1, just because the riddle was hard enough. The numbers 9-2-1 displayed, and unlocked the briefcase. Eagerly, Jim opened the briefcase. Inside were 8 vials of Daylight and an injector device. "Well, it seems you all have a way to rid yourselves of the virus. As for me, the U.B.C.S. arrived after the virus was pretty much dissipated." Mikhail said. They each nodded, and one by one, injected themselves with the Daylight.

Having heard the explosion, a few of the remaining firefighters took a helicopter and headed over to the University. Obviously someone was still there to have an explosion ensue. "We're almost there." The pilot shouted, as they flew as fast as they possibly could. Coming upon the University's back square, one of the firefighters grabbed a megaphone. "Hurry to the front square! We can land and get you out of here from there!" He shouted, before the helicopter flew towards the front square. "Everybody! To the front square!" Mikhail shouted. The group of survivors began to make their way towards the front square, avoiding flaming death and debris. Halfway to the destination, a familiar roar was audible. "Go!" Mikhail shouted, shoving Jim and Yoko forwards, turning his back to the survivors. They all immediately did as they were told. Mikhail froze, looking all around. 'Come on out...I know you're watching me...' Mikhail thought to himself. About ten feet infront of him, Thanatos suddenly popped out, attempting to swipe at Mikhail with his clawed hands. Mikhail did a backwards roll, and fired off a few choice rounds. Of course the bullets didn't work, but they did stall Thanatos a second. Making a break for the front square, Thanatos decided to follow, but walked instead...

As Mikhail entered the courtyard, he saw the 8 survivors... and 4 other men. U.B.C.S. gear, and oddly unharmed. They all saluted their commanding officer, and Mikhail returned it. "It is good to see you all alive..." Mikhail said with a small smirk. "Well sir, we are -your- men. Hand-picked and trained by you." The obvious leader of the group before this said with a small smile. Mikhail smiled back. "Be that as it may... Are you prepared to fight alongside me one last time?" He asked them. "Yes sir!" They all shouted, in unison. "Lock and load, gentleman... Because here comes Death himself..." Mikhail said. They all did as instructed, and were ready right when Thanatos stepped into the light. Out of the blue, a voice cried out. "Hey, Mikhail!" Mikhail turned, only to catch a M66 Rocket Launcher, just like he previously had. David smirked. Mikhail returned the smirk, putting away his M4A1 and gripping the Rocket Launcher in both hands. "Ready..." Mikhail stated, the men readying themselves. Thanatos cracked it's knuckles slowly and tightly on the only claw left, then its neck, gritting its teeth. "Aim..." Mikhail stated next, his men taking aim. Thanatos roared, defiantly and confidently. "FIRE!" He shouted. The ammo that flew forth was a combination of 5.56 NATO rounds, 9mm bullets, and even a few grenades. For once, Thanatos showed weakness from the grenades. Mikhail aimed and fired two of the rockets. Thanatos roared, obviously hurt and pissed off. Kneeling, Thanatos was wounded, but not out of the picture yet. His men reloaded in unison, and kept on firing. Thanatos roared, more and more anger filling him. Thanatos charged Mikhail, and leaped. He thrust out his claw arm as violently as he could. Mikhail tried to avoid, but he was knocked aside like a rag doll. Fortunately, he was not scratched at all, so no virus was transferred to his being. But his back slammed into a wall, and he found that he had a cracked rib or two. Grunting as he fell onto his butt, he got back up to his feet as quickly as possible. Thanatos roared, charging Mikhail once more. Mikhail steadied the Rocket Launcher, and fired the last two shots. They hit dead on, opening Thanatos' chest up, and knocking him out cold, for the moment.

The helicopter finally landed, just in the nick of time. Mikhail had dispersed with Thanatos, if not temporarily. But he was wounded, and obviously he would be forced to stay. The 8 survivors looked to one another, and tried to decide who would leave, and who would stay. "I wanna help Mikhail..." Kevin said. Everyone was shocked! It seemed like Kevin had hated Mikhail, or more or less just didn't care. "...If the idiot's staying, I will too..." David said, smirking and folding his arms. "Hey! I'm not an idiot!" Kevin shouted. Nobody stepped up to take Kevin's side on that one. "Oh to hell with you all..." Kevin muttered. "Well... If you two are going to stay, I should stay just because he'll need someone more 'combat experienced' than either of you." Mark said, smiling. "Well, I want to interview Mikhail and get the big scoop behind Umbrella and his story! So I'm staying behind." Alyssa said. Once again, nobody objected to the statement made. "Well... Someone with medical skills will be needed, so I'll stay too." George said. A small silence fell between Cindy, Yoko and Jim. "Hurry up guys! We have room for only two people, and there's not much time before the city goes boom!" The firefighter with the megaphone shouted to them. "We're almost done, take a chill pill!" Kevin shouted. Looking back to the group, Kevin found that one was missing. "What the hell?" He muttered, looking to the chopper. Jim was already in it, waving. It seemed he picked an opportune time, since Thanatos just got back up. "Well, that takes care of one of us.." Kevin said. Now it was between Yoko and Cindy. "Well, I want to help stop that Nichoali fellow... As well as get my memories back." Yoko said with a soft sigh, knowing it was mainly selfishness that propelled her action. "That's okay. I don't mind staying. I can be of use here more than in the helicopter." Cindy said with a smile. Yoko gave all of them a small hug, and it was shocking that David hugged back, slightly. "Take care kid..." David said, lightly smirking. "Gotcha." Yoko said with a big smile. With one last look to her fellow survivors, Yoko took off for the helicopter. Once inside, the helicopter wasted no time lifting off and getting the hell out of dodge. "Well... At least we're not going to become zombies." Kevin said, smiling. Everyone else smirked. The six survivors decided it was time to help Mikhail out any way they could, especially since Thanatos was proving to be a nuisance.

Once the helicopter was gone, all hopes of survival were now gone. Mikhail was not fighting to survive anymore. He was fighting to kick Thanatos' ass! And it seemed that the creature was focus only on him. "Hold your fire men. There's no point in you wasting your ammo. This creature wants me only. Just fall back, and protect my friends if they need it." Mikhail said, dodging a few claw swipes just barely. "Hey! We can take care of ourselves!" Kevin shouted, shaking his fist at Mikhail in an angered fashion. "Sir! I know this is probably a wrong time to mention this..." One of Mikhail's younger soldiers stated. "Speak up, soldier!" Mikhail shouted, using his Rocket Launcher as a type of shield against the claw, it barely holding up against it, but still proving Mikhail cover. "Well, I heard Sergeant Nichoali ranting before we arrived... And he said something about the Daylight can pretty much eradicate any T-virus infected creature..." The soldier said. Mikhail blinked. 'Even Thanatos!' his mind shouted. 'But how am I going to get it into his system... his skin's thick as concrete..' Mikhail thought, doing a baseball type slide to get some distance, rolling back onto his feet. But then he remembered. He made that wound on Thanatos' chest. 'I've go two shots... so I need to make it as big as possible. No problem.' Mikhail thought with a smirk. Thanatos roared, and charged his adversary. Mikhail aimed, and fired one rocket. Thanatos sidestepped it, still going. He leaped upwards, and began to descend down upon Mikhail. Aiming the rocket launcher upwards, Mikhail closed one eye. He fired the second rocket, and it hit dead on. Mikhail rolled out of the way just in time for Thanatos' feet to slam through the concrete, sending chunks of concrete everywhere. Mikhail tosses the rocket launcher aside, pulled out the ampoule shooter, and loaded the only Daylight he had into it. As Thanatos turned and began to charge again, Mikhail aimed. "Adios..." Mikhail muttered, before pulling the trigger. The vial was propelled forwards at an amazing speed, it almost looking beautiful before it struck into Thanatos' open wound. Instantly, the anti-virus was administered to Thanatos' bloodstream. The creature ripped out the vial and crushed it in its hand, hoping to do the same to Mikhail. However, it seemed that today would not be the day. In an amazing show of flashing lights and miniature explosions, Thanatos was ultimately destroyed, leaving barely a limb or organ as proof that it once existed. Injured once again, the mighty Mikhail Victor fell onto his butt, sighing. "I need a vacation..." He muttered.

He looked up to the sky, seeing a missile soar over head. "That... that isn't a nuclear warhead..." Mikhail said, knowing the difference between a cruise missile and a minuteman nuclear missile. 'Either way, we need to find shelter quick!' He thought to himself, motioning to his men and survivors to a nearby manhole. Mikhail got to his feet as best he could, and it was Kevin and David who grabbed an arm, put around their shoulders, and helped the U.B.C.S. Lieutenant to the manhole. "Thank you both..." Mikhail said. "No... Thank you, Military Man." Kevin said with a smile. Once everybody was down there, a few web spinners were there. Mikhail, even injured, alongside his men were able to dispose of the pestering arachnids. "Well, I know this city pretty well… And it's best if we hide under the university. It's big and strong enough up above, so the sewer below will definitely be fortified." David said, nodding. Everyone fought this time, especially since they were Hunters. Spiders are one thing, but Hunters were once human, and some of the most vicious things that Umbrella could create. It seemed that Mikhail had taught his men the 'feed the hunter a grenade' trick all too well, for they performed the trick expertly. After the big brawl, the groups found what looked like a structurally sound and secure area, and made a small camp there. "Let me help you with your wounds, Mikhail." George said. "That would be great George. Thank you…" Mikhail said with a smile. "No thanks needed, simply doing my duty." George said, instantly going to work on Mikhail. Cindy stood by to offer assistance, as the worst was yet to come.

Nichoali smiled evilly. "This is too unreal! I still cannot believe how great this day is! I have the only sample of the Daylight... Mikhail is dead... Raccoon City has been blown to little more than dust... AND I'M GOING TO BE SO RICH! HAHAHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHA! I can't wait to plot what I'm going to do with all my money..." Nichoali said, grinning from ear to ear. Hearing the explosions only seemed to make him laugh further, going into one of his rants of being "a sexy, god of a man." as well as "the greatest genius in the known world." Just before Raccoon City was completely out of his sight, he pulled a little mocking salute. "Farewell Mikhail Victor... It hasn't been fun knowing you. Please, enjoy the suffering of being blown to SHIT!" He shouted to an audience of no one but himself. Lost in his own little world, Nichoali did not know that the last Daylight was gone... And would remain gone... Forever..

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_Please let me know what you think, all comments are appreciated._


	2. Chapter 2

**One Man's Struggle**

Chapter 1- City of Survivors

_A/N: During the writing of this Ben was absent for a while due to Katrina so Perkygothian has been helping with the writing, so there may be some small changes in writing style for part of the fanfic, namely when NYX comes into play in the fanfic._

_Disclaimer: Resident Evil is the property of Capcom._

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It had been six years since the destruction of the city that was now a wasteland. He was one of many survivors that were still in the city. Mikhail sat there on the ledge of one of the glass and concrete cliffs created by the powerful blasts, sharpening his knife. He had survived six greuling years in the ruins of the city, relying on his wits and the knife he had. A familiar sound came from the distance, grabbing his attention quickly. "A helicopter! What is it doing here?" Mikhail asked himself, getting up and getting ready, not knowing that Umbrella was no more. He got his M4A1 and the scant amount of ammo he had ready, just in case it was another clean-up crew from Umbrella. They had often checked the city for survivors, but they never found him or the others, as they kept out of their sight. Once he did see some of the very own men he trained, including Carlos. "What will be going on this time?" He asked himself, training his sight on the helicopter. Two figures got out of the helicopter, a man and a woman. The man seemed to be built like a tank, whilst the woman was practically a delicate glimmer of red. Mikhail was intrigued. "What the hell? Civilians? In a place like this?" He asked himself, getting up and leaping down from the ledge he was sitting on, going to where the helicopter was.

The bleak landscape of the city would be impossible for any normal person to traverse, as it was a vast sea of concrete, glass, and metal debris. Some buildings were still standing. But being used to it for six years, Mikhail knew his way around the city. He had his shelter out near the river, among the ruins of the university. Occasionally he did see a few surviving virus carriers, but he dealt with them quickly should they get in his way. There was a Tyrant still alive in the ruins, but fortunately it could never catch up to him.

The twirling of a deadly combat knife was audible in the air. Krauser smiled, tossing his knife up in the air a little, and then catching it with his other hand. "Don't understand why Wesker wants us to come back to this shithole…." He muttered, looking around with his cold, evil eyes. "Waste of my time…" He said with a nod, walking down the glass shard ridden streets. He once more started twirling his combat knife, almost as if he was bored. Suddenly, something burst out of a nearby door, trying to leap at Krauser. Krauser, still twirling his knife, did a weird little triple strike with the knife while spinning it, then sheathing it. He looked to the target, who was a zombified citizen of Raccoon City. Lightly poking the zombie, it suddenly fell in pieces, letting out one last groan. "…Pathetic…" He muttered, adjusting his beret before continuing to twirl his knife on his index finger.

Continuing down the streets, it seemed like more things wished to cross his path. He was shocked, however, to find a living survivor. The fact that she was non-infected to boot, which confused Krauser as well. The woman screamed, and turned, running off merely seconds after sight. "Humans…" He muttered, before cracking his neck and continuing on. But something caught his eye once he got to the remains of the Raccoon University. It seems that there was a civilization of surviving citizens was there. "How did this many survive? That blast should have toasted them all…" He muttered, narrowing his eyes. A figure stepped out of the darkness. "Because I helped them survive…." The figure said. Krauser turned quickly, knife already unsheathed. "You…" He muttered.

Mikhail smiled at the new man. He had seen him exit from the chopper, and oddly enough, Krauser reminded him of a younger version of himself. At least body wise, anyway. Personality would be revealed soon enough. Oddly enough, Mikhail had even developed similar scars on his face like Krauser's. But his clothes hid even more scars than were shown. Krauser blinked. 'It's like staring into a mirror…' He thought to himself. "Just who the hell are you, old man?" Krauser said with a rude tone, twirling his knife. Mikhail smirked, closing his eyes. "I am Mikhail Victor. Former U.B.C.S. Lieutenant until I 'died', and then I started this little settlement in bombed to hell Raccoon City. As you can plainly see, there were plenty of survivors. Obviously, the 'nuclear missile' was some overpowered Tomahawk cruise missile or something very far from a real nuclear missile."

"Well, talking bores me… So you'd better have a knife on you." Krauser said, before grasping the knife firmly in his right hand, before striking out in a mad combo of slices. Mikhail unsheathed his combat knife, and countered at just the right time.

The two blades clashed, and the two figures gritted their teeth. 'Pretty good… For a human.' He thought to himself, before thrusting a punch with his left hand. Mikhail blocked it expertly, and judo-flipped Krauser onto his back. Mikhail took a few steps back, getting some distance. "I'll admit… You've got some moves, old man." Krauser said, before flipping back onto his feet. "But they won't help you for long." Krauser said with a smirk, charging Mikhail and thrusting his knife outwards. Mikhail caught Krauser's knife hand, and as Mikhail stabbed with his left, Krauser caught his hand. The two struggled, Mikhail oddly holding his own against Krauser. But Krauser had far more strength untapped, and began to overcome Mikhail. 'He's strong. He's a bit too strong for any normal man.' Mikhail thought, before realizing just what he was fighting. But before Krauser could carry on, he noticed his ear communicator was beeping. It was Ada, as usual. He tried to ignore her, but her yelling eventually got his attention. "We'll have to finish this another time…" Krauser muttered, pushing Mikhail back before resheathing his combat knife. "Very well, but before you go, I need to know something to call you at least." Mikhail said, resheathing his own combat knife. "Krauser…" Krauser said lowly, before turning and running very fast down the street and taking a sharp turn. "Krauser, eh? Heh, it has a nice ring to it." Mikhail said, smirking.

He laughed a bit as he watched Ada fight a losing battle. "About time somebody showed you who's boss..." Krauser said with a grin on his face. "Maybe I should leave you here to die..." He said, still grinning. Ada was doing all she could do avoid certain death at the hands of the Tyrant's deadly claws. "You bastard! Come and help me!" She shouted. Krauser simply laughed, and shook his head. "Why should I?" He simply stated. She unholstered her gun, and shot at Krauser, barely missing as Krauser just avoided it almost uncaringly. "Come now Ada... Why would someone you just shot at help you?" Krauser said with a grin reappearing on his scar covered face. Before Ada could respond with a witty retort, she felt the slice of the Tyrant's claw hit her old wound she received from the mutated Mr. X years ago. Ignoring it, she saw no other choice but to call upon Krauser. "Just shutup and help me! Wesker won't like me being dead..." She cried out, continuing to avoid claw swipes. Krauser could not help but keep his grin. "Say pretty please..." Was all he said in response, folding his arms over his chest, and tapping his right combat boot covered foot against the pavement in wait. Ada decided she had no choice, she preferred living. "Pretty... Please..?" She said, it barely coming out. She never had to say please for anything as of late. "Wow... Was that so hard, you stuckup bitch?" Krauser said, his grin becoming a simple smirk. Krauser had indeed enjoyed hearing Ada beg for help. 'About time she learned her place...' He thought to himself, looking to the Tyrant. "Hey... Baldy!" He shouted, whistling afterwards. The Tyrant suddenly jerked it's head towards Krauser's direction, narrowing it's eyes. "Let's see how you fair against a more adequate opponent." Krauser said, clenching his hands into tight fists, preparing himself for what was to come. The Tyrant roared, and started walking towards Krauser. "I don't have time for you to walk towards me! Dammit all." Krauser narrowed his eyes, taking off in a sprint of amazing speed towards his new foe. He leaped forwards, still flying from the momentum of his run. Rearing his left arm back, it jerked and convulsed rapidly, and in an almost beautiful display, shapeshifted from a seemingly normal but well developed muscular arm into a blade-like appendage, sharp as a swift katana blade. It gleamed with a glint of almost magnificent light. The Tyrant froze, and Krauser struck with a smirk on his face. The sound of flesh and bone being destroyed was quite audible, as Krauser's arm blade not only pierced the Tyrant's face, but went straight through and almost completely destroyed it. Save for the lower jaw, everything else was in pieces of splattered against a nearby wall. The Tyrant's body fell to the ground with a great 'fwoom!' Krauser smirked, and Ada looked as pissed as ever. "Thank you..." She said with much reluctance. "You're welcome... bitch." He muttered, grinning. The two gave each other cold stares.

Unbeknownst to Krauser and Ada, they were being watched. Mikhail had sent out a scouting party, a bad feeling washing over him and his instincts told him to check on it somehow. The four U.B.C.S. that were still alive, plus David King and Mark Wilkins were the party he sent. The four U.B.C.S. members seemed traumatized by the man's sudden mutation, almost scared. Mark and David just stared, unphased. "Fucking figures..." David mutters, sighing. "We'd better tell Mikhail." Mark said, rubbing his chin.

For some reason, Krauser had almost forgot to retract his blade. With little effort, the mighty weapon-appendage became his old human arm, retaining it's former shape before mutation. Cracking his knuckles and fingers by tightening his hand into a fist, he flicked it a little and popped the fingers some more. "Nothin' like a good killing to get the circulation flowin' properly." Krauser said with a smirk, but it soon faded. He could feel that someone was watching him. Eyes, possibly more than one set, were watching him. Looking back, he saw no one. Narrowing his eyes, he tried to focus and see, but he still saw nothing. "Must be my imagination.." He muttered, before walking off, ignoring the fact that Ada had left prior to his de-mutation. Not like he cared.

Having killed the monster, Krauser was almost displeased. "Shoulda been better than that... Got my hopes all up and my adrenaline running." He muttered, adjusting his beret and unsheathing his knife, only to twirl it on his index finger some, before juggling it from his left to his right hand, and repeating said actions a few times. As Krauser left and ignored the mercs plus David and Mark, the six decided it best to head back to the university and tell Mikhail the news about these newcomers, and how strong and powerful the man was. It didn't take them long, and before long they were already running their mouths to the extreme about the superhuman man with the crazy arm-blade, and the woman in the red dress with amazing speed. "One at a time, please! I don't have a billion ears." Mikhail said, trying to calm them down. After the report, Mikhail smirked. "This is Raccoon City. There's no such thing as surprises... But we will indeed have to be cautious if we fight this one..." Mikhail said, rubbing his chin. "Well, sir, he was heading uptown. Towards J's bar." The second in command said. "That's where Kevin is... Oh shit..." Mark said, a worried look on his face. "The idiot's going to get himself killed... Was wondering how long that would take.." David said with a small smirk, not looking worried at all, let alone in a mood to care. "Well, he's still a comrade. We have to go save him from himself. C'mon." Mikhail said, leading the group of six uptown to J's Bar. Mikhail only hoped he would arrive in time to save Kevin from the alcohol's stupefying effects.

Footsteps seemed to echo so easily through Raccoon City. Krauser found that out really quick. Walking along the streets, twirling his combat knife, he felt the demon of boredom try to take over him. 'Damn it all... Where's something to kill... Or at least scare..?' He thought to himself. Suddenly, a noise up ahead caught his attention. Going into stealth mode, Krauser for some reason thought it was Ada. 'The bitch would double back and try to attack me... She's a bitch, afterall.' He thought to himself, gripping his combat knife firmly in his hand. Unfortunately for Krauser, as he jumped out to surprise his opponent, it turned out to be a simple survivor. "AHH! PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!" The man cried out, sprinting off as quickly as possible. "Why waste my time...?" Krauser muttered, now even more frustrated. But then he thought. "Where there's stupid survivors... There's settlements... Where there's settlements...There's stuff to smash." Krauser said with a smirk. Out of random, a piece of paper blown by the breeze flew by his head. "YOU'RE GONNA DIE, YOU RED DRESS WEARING WHORE!" Krauser said, slicing the paper like crazy. "Whoops... Spasm." He muttered, before getting serious and heading off again.

The cold and satisfying taste of alcohol passed into Kevin's awaiting mouth, but did not stay long as Kevin proceeded to chug down the beverage he loved so much as if it were his first drink in days. And it was. "Last time I try to go sober for too long... Damn my head was pounding..." Kevin muttered in a drunken stupor, burping loudly. " 'Scuse meh. Heh heh." He muttered. J's Bar had reopened itself, with Cindy not only managing it, but still retaining her job as the waitress. Kevin smirked. "Minus the destruction and zombies... It's almost like the crazy outbreak never happened." Kevin said out loud, taking another good swig of his beverage. Kevin slowly and rather groggily got off of his barstool, the mug still in his hand. "Well, lookie lookie. A new guy. Don't s'pose you got those scars from losing a fight with a pair of scissors, now did ya?" Kevin said, laughing lightly. Krauser could sense this man was drunk, and he was not about to kill someone who would not totally feel or acknowledge the pain he would bring him. That was not, however, about to stop Krauser from putting the fear into the bar patrons. Moving fast as a lighting bolt, Krauser's fist met with Kevin's face, resulting in launching the R.P.D. Cop clear across the bar, into a table, and finally stopping after a chair was nice enough to break his fall. Kevin groaned in pain, getting up as quickly as he could. "You asshole... You broke my damn mug!" Kevin shouted, tossing the broken mug which once would contain alcohol. Angry as he was, Kevin knew that he would probably get killed by the guy if he tried to attack him. It seemed like there was some superhuman aspect about him. Especially since he knocked Kevin back like he was a rag doll or barely weighed anything. "No sport in killing a drunk..." Krauser muttered, looking to the patrons. Turning, he decided that he should just leave. 'These humans bore me...' He thought to himself. "Yeah, that's right! You better walk away. I'd of smoked you like smoked sausage!" Kevin shouted, before collapsing in a chair. "Cindy... Please bring me the strongest liquor you have... My head hurts..."

But then Kevin obviously felt the need to continue the fight. Especially after Krauser had made him look like a fool. Grabbing a nearby alcohol bottle, he heaved it with unexpected ease. The bottle smashed right beside Krauser's head, the bottle not that empty. "Aw DAMN! I could of drank that. You sonovabitch! You made me waste good alcohol!" Kevin shouted, grabbing an ashtray from the same table, heaving it, it just barely missed Krauser too. "Alright... You're going to die, right here and now." Krauser said, a hint of anger in his voice. "Bring it on, short man!" Kevin said, pulling his gloves on his hands tighter. Krauser charged forwards, and speared Kevin into and through a table. Kevin responded by pushing Krauser off, and giving him one of his classic kicks. Right in the face, actually managing to make Krauser's head go to the side. "Suck on that!" Kevin shouted, smirking. "You don't drink as much as I do and not get some adaptation... Might as well be a Drunken Master." Kevin said, laughing. Krauser blinked. "You look more like a Drunken Buffoon.." Krauser muttered, before grabbing Kevin one handedly and heaving him onto and all the way down the bar counter. "Weeee-OW!" Kevin said, as his head slammed into a pole right at the end of the bar's counter. Oddly, Kevin hopped back up once more. "Is that all you got, shorty?" Kevin said, grinning. "You really enjoy pain, don't you?" Krauser said, cracking his knuckles. "Don't know the meaning of the word." Kevin said, his grin never fading. "I'm going to actually have to work for this a little." Krauser muttered, before grabbing Kevin in a headlock. Kevin fought back valiantly, placing a few elbows to Krauser's lower chest, and even stomping on his feet. Krauser let go, only to drop kick Kevin dead center in his back. Kevin went flying into the bar counter yet again, and he hit it with such force, he did a flip up and over and landed on his face. "...Damn." Was all he said. Krauser dusted off his hands. "You ready to just let me snap your neck?" Krauser asked, looking over the bar counter. Kevin moved with amazing speed... for a drunk. Grabbing a alcohol bottle, empty of course, he slammed it hard against Krauser's head, causing it to break in half, glass shards now at the end of the half he held. Kevin then thrust the broken bottle with all he had, piercing Krauser's throat. Krauser oddly did not even flinch. He just ripped out the broken bottle, and raised his neck to Kevin. "You can't kill a god... mortal." Krauser grinned, as the blood that was escaping the hole in his throat stopped, and the muscle and skin all healed rather quickly. Kevin blinked. "Nice trick..." Kevin said with a small hint of fear in his voice.

Then, a new voice entered the fray. "And it just may be his final trick..." Mikhail said, stepping in. "Well well... We meet again. Beret et Beret." Krauser said, turning his attention away from Kevin. Cindy, who had been scared silent until now, rushed over to Kevin, to see if he was wounded badly. "Just give me the strongest whiskey you got... two shot glasses." Kevin said. Cindy went to do so. Mikhail and Krauser stepped up to each other, face to face. Eyes never blinking.

As the two warriors fought, something blue was glowing. Further inspection would reveal a pair of blue and silver catlike eyes, and they belonged to the former comrade of Mikhail's, Nicholai Ginovaef. Even with his eyes glowing, no one would notice him. All eyes were turned on the fight between the two soldiers. Mikhail and Krauser seemed pretty even, despite the fact Krauser was a 'god'. Nicholai smirked. "He doesn't know the meaning of 'god'." Nicholai muttered, laughing to himself. A crow landed by Nicholai, giving out a caw. It was cawing at Nicholai for being on it's territory. Nicholai responded by grabbing it with his right hand, and ripping it's beak off with his left. "Be silent while the big boys talk..." Nicholai muttered, tossing the obviously dead or dying crow's body aside. 'I bet I could even shoot one of them in the foot, and they would not notice until after the fight. They are getting so into it that it's not even funny.' Nicholai thought to himself. 'They better be glad I don't just jump down there and kill them both.' He concluded. "I'm not one to ruin my own entertainment, though." Nicholai said with a smirk. "Tell me about it." A female voice said behind him. Blinking, Nicholai rose and aimed his trademark SigPro at the form of Ada Wong. "Easy... I'm not here to hurt you." She said, smiling with that smile that she had. "Don't try your little sexual games with me, woman. I know all about you, Wong." He said, narrowing his eyes. "There's only room for one audience member up here. Please... By all means... Make me kill you." He said with a big grin. Ada responded with a smirk all her own. "If you wish... You old hasbeen." She retorted, whipping out her own pistol. Nicholai did not give her the time to aim, and already began to fire. Ada's speed was indeed superhuman, but Nicholai's speed would rival her's, as he was able to at least nick her arms and legs with great precision, slowing her down to a degree. She grabbed the wounds one by one, narrowing her eyes. "Big mistake..." She muttered. "Boo-frickity-hoo. Cry me a river, whore." Nicholai said, mocking her. Ada tried to pistol whip Nicholai, but she underestimated his speed, and found her pistol was flung off the side of the roof, and she was thrown like a rag doll. But she was far more agile than she appeared, quickly regaining her footing and rushing Nicholai, managing to produce a spin kick that missed him, but knocked his gun out of his hand. "Clever girl." Nicholai muttered, before unleashing a flurry of punches, followed by a wave of kicks. Ada blocked for all she was worth, and then thrust out a kick of her own. The two kicked each other so hard, they flew back opposite of each other, stopping at the rooftop edges. "For an old man.. You've got some nice moves." Ada said with a smile. "Do you ever stop talking, or is it part of your malfunction to ramble?" Nicholai asked. Ada narrowed her eyes. "Well, fine. Excuse me for trying to strike a conversation. Let's just get to the brute force." Ada said, mocking Nicholai's accent a little. "I'll slice off your nipples for that." He muttered. "Come try it, big boy." Ada said, grinning. Nicholai decided he would not unsheathe his knife just yet. Rushing the woman, he sent forth a punch that almost broke her jaw, and almost cost her the high heels she wore as she skidded along the rooftop. Rushing her again, he did a front flip kick, connecting right with the bottom of her chin, knocking her into a flip. Landing on his feet, he tried another rush, only to have Ada's fists hit him square in the nose, knocking him onto his back. Ada landed, rubbing her chin. 'Damn! What a punch.' She thought. 'Damn... What a bitch!' Nicholai thought, flipping back onto his feet.

Grabbing Krauser the best he could, Mikhail rushed for a nearby window, and heaved. Krauser decided the bar was too enclosed, and that a good toss would be fun. As he crashed through the window, Mikhail leaped out afterwards, soon grabbing ahold of Krauser and punching him repeatedly. Krauser just laughed, throwing a punch or two back. The two were fortunate enough to land on a dumpster, the lid open and thus trash bags breaking their fall. Fortune smiled upon them as there was no breakable or possible injuring materials within the bags. Pulling themselves out, they continued their brawl on the street, and everybody rushed out to watch. Fists met faces, and feet met chests. Knees met guts, and elbows met the back of necks. Despite all this, the two never lost their berets. It was almost as if they were glued to the wearers' heads. Mikhail grabbed Krauser, and in one fell swoop, wrestling-style suplexed him onto the hard concrete. Krauser easily got back up to his feet. "Is that all you've got?" Krauser asked, smirking. "Not by a long shot." Mikhail retorted. Krauser rushed him, and did his little 'Watch the Birdie' style dash run, leaving after images. Mikhail thrust out punches, each missing by mere seconds. Krauser backflipped and took to the air, landed hard and caused a light quake to hit the area, before charging and clotheslining Mikhail, his left forearm causing Mikhail to do several flips in the air. Mikhail landed on his hands, and scrambled back to his feet. Cracking his neck a little, Mikhail smirked. Krauser returned the smirk. The two unsheathed their combat knives for the first time in the fight. Both blades glinted with light from the street lamps, before the two charged one another, and slashed. Knife blades met one another, such force behind them they began to heat up from the friction and whatnot. Mikhail headbutted Krauser about four times, and then gave him a front kick that made him stumble. Mikhail thrust the knife, plunging it into Krauser's throat. "Please... Drunk Man already tried that." Krauser muttered, ripping out the combat knife and throwing it back. Mikhail tried to catch it, but the speed was too much, and it sheathed itself... in his right hand. Mikhail started to cry out, but he clenched his teeth and grasped the knife hilt. Ripping it out quickly, he knew the pain would subside. "Looks like you're not so badass afterall." Krauser said with a small chuckle. Mikhail pulled out a roll of medical bandage, and wrapped his hand. Tying it securely, he narrowed his eyes, putting the roll back up. "It's not over yet..." He muttered, taking a stance with his knife. "Oh it soon will be..." Krauser said with a confident nod.

The two gave each other a hate-filled stare. They knew nothing of each other except what was gained at this moment. And Nicholai, as calm as he used to be, was growing really annoyed by her. 'It's time to stop playing games.' He thought, smirking and even giving a light chuckle. Ada blinked. "What's so damn funny?" She asked. "Oh you'll see. Just hold on one second." Nicholai said, reaching to his right arm. He rolled up the sleeve covering his arm, and took off the glove off his hand rather slowly."I don't like to resort to tearing up my uniform... Even if it's one glove." He said with a cold sneer, his eyes glowing slightly before he clenched his right hand into a tight fist. Clenching his teeth, he closed his eyes, as veins on either side of his forehead began to pop up under the skin showing signs of concentration and strain. Suddenly, his right arm jerked once. A violent, almost sickening jerk. It jerked again, as the color of it began to pale, going from a once human-tan skin type color, to a chalk white color that was almost familiar to Ada's skin tone. '...No..' She thought. He smirked, seeing slight fear in her eyes. "Witness... PERFECTION!" He shouted, as his right arm muscled up a good degree, stretching what sleeve remained unrolled up and almost to the point of tearing. His hand unclenched, as the fingers grew longer, the hand becoming wider and more powerful. The fingers continued to extend, eventually forming talon-like digits. Ada took a step back in shock. 'I thought only Krauser had that kind of power...' She thought to herself, blinking. "Heh heh heh... Foolish wench.." Nicholai flexed the muscles slightly, almost to further intimidate her. Ada regained herself and sneered. "Perfection is in the eye of the beholder..." Ada muttered, before suddenly pulling off her shades. Pushing a tiny button, she heaved them forwards. No sooner had they hit the ground, a bright flash of light ensued. Temporarily blinded, Nicholai looked around, his eyesight blurring and almost totally useless, despite his new 'perfection.' Ada took this chance to reach for her spare pistol, and aimed at him. Firing shots the best she could, for it slightly caught her too, she waited after each shot. Nicholai's hearing was still in full effect, and every shot was dodged with almost seconds to spare. "You bitch! Just wait until I can see you again. I will gut you where you stand!" 'Some tricks never become unuseable..' Ada thought with a smirk, as she saw Nicholai. Unfortunately, he saw her too. Charging, Nicholai gave a yell that was almost like a roar, thrusting his claw forth. Ada was still faster than Nicholai, if not by much, and was able to dodge-roll to the right. Unfortunately for her, she was still clipped, giving her another nice battle scar and wound to tend to later. Nicholai moved his blood-drenched talons to his lips, and licked a few of them with his tongue. "Mmm... Whore Positive.." He said with a smirk. "We'll meet again, you monstrosity." Ada said, before firing off one last shot. Nicholai was caught by surprise, for once, and felt the 9mm bullet pierce into his kneecap. "...Indeed. And I'll make sure this bullet is shoved right through your head.." Wasting no time, Ada was gone before Nicholai said that statement. "Damn... She made me miss alot of Mikhail's death..." He growled, digging into his knee with two of his talons. With expertise that only decades of combat could teach you, he ripped out the 9mm bullet, and narrowed his eyes. "She will pay for ruining perfection..." He muttered, tossing the bullet aside. Realizing she made him lose his SigPro, Nicholai walked over to his favorite gun, holstered it, and demutated his arm. A few violent jerks and color changes and it was back to normal. Rolling his sleeve back down, he bent down, grabbed the glove he threw down, and put it back on. "All is well.." He said with a smile. Turning his attention back to Mikhail, he hoped he did not miss much of the action.

Ada's wounds had not totally made her incapacitated. She had a really good recovery rate, but not as good as Krauser's, by far. She escaped from the evil Russian as fast as she could. Leaning against a wall to catch her breath, she sighed. 'There are times I wish Wesker would of just left me for dead...' She thought. Suddenly, something deep down told her that someone was close. Unfortunately, she was in no condition to fight. Falling against the wall and now sitting against it, she grasped the gun and closed her eyes. "Well... It looks like you've gotten yourself into another situation where I have to save you..." A voice said in the darkness. Ada aimed, only to lower it as the main man himself stepped into the light. Albert Wesker, the 'god' among mortals, the betrayer of S.T.A.R.S. -AND- Umbrella, as well as partially responsible for the decimation and infection of Raccoon City. Wesker's face was cold, and completely emotionless. For some reason, it seemed to stay that way for about ninety percent of the time. It would change only when he fought that Redfield loser. 'That Chris seems to bring out what's left of the humanity in Albert... Wonder why..' She thought. Didn't take long to remember why. It was Chris' fault that Wesker lost the Tyrant, amongst other things. He also cost Wesker the body of Alexia Ashford and almost the T-Veronica Virus. It was a good thing that Steve Burnside's body had some traces in it, or the virus would have been lost to Wesker. She smiled slightly. "Come to play the gallant dark knight to save me again, Albert?" Wesker smiled lightly. "If you say so, my dear Ada." was all he said in response, before picking her up into his arms. "I'll take you back to the base we've constructed... Get some doctors to tend your wounds. I would myself... But I have business to tend to." Wesker said, his eyes flaring up lightly. "Story of your life..." Ada muttered.

The two had been fighting for what seemed like hours. Hell, for all they knew, it may as well of been days or weeks. Both were becoming fatigued, even Krauser, despite the fact he was superhuman and all that. Mikhail breathed slowly, trying to keep on fighting. It was harder than it looked, as he struggled to grapple Krauser. Krauser, who was just a little less fatigued, grappled back with Mikhail. The two pushed with all the had, and it was eventually Mikhail who gained the edge. Moving oddly quick, he managed to move into neck snapping position. Before Krauser could react, Mikhail snapped for all he was worth, giving out a yell. Krauser's neck went snicker snap, and the scarred man went down for the count. "Damn.." Mikhail muttered, before stumbling backwards and landing on his ass Mikhail smiled lightly, taking off his beret. Wiping his forehead, he was about to feel really good, until Krauser's seemingly lifeless body jerked once. Mikhail blinked. "...What in the name of God.." He muttered, as Krauser scrambled slowly to his feet, his neck still snapped. "That really hurt..." Krauser spat from his mouth, before grasping his neck and head in his hands, and snapping his neck back into place. Popping his neck a little as it healed, he smirked. "Very nice... You're definately strong to last so very long against me... As well as make -me- break into sweat and fatigue. I'll give you more credit than Leon..." Krauser said with a grin. Mikhail blinked, unbelieving. "I... I snapped your neck... You should be dead!" Mikhail shouted, barely managing to get to his feet. Krauser's grin only grew wider. "Yeah... But being above humans and all that tends to rule out mortality, now doesn't it?" Krauser said with an evil filled laugh. Mikhail narrowed his eyes. "You're not above humans... You're below us...You disgust me.." Mikhail said, spitting at Krauser. The spit landed right in Krauser's left eye. Krauser quickly got rid of the spit, and gritted his teeth. "You -DARE- spit in my eye! You are definately going down..." Krauser said, looking to his left arm. "Let's see what you've got, youngster." Mikhail said, confidence and determination still filling his eyes.

The two gave each other a stern shakedown... Before suddenly collapsing backwards. Everyone around them that had been watching the fight, including Nicholai, gasped. 'No! -I- should be the one to kill Mikhail! Not that steroid-using son of a bitch!' Nicholai yelled in his head. Slamming his fists down, he would of gotten angry and rushed down there, if not for George speaking up as he checked their bodies. "They're both still alive! Just over-exhausted. They both need medical attention... Even the 'man' that somehow snapped his neck back in place..." George said, a little hint of fear in his voice at the regeneration factor of Krauser. Four survivors that George had trained to be his assistants came, and helped get the bodies back to their camp for medical treatment. Kevin stumbled after them, rubbing his sore neck. "There'd better be some liquor... I'm gettin' kinda dry..." He muttered, the drunk look never fading off his visage. Nicholai smirked. "So.. You've still got some toughness to you.. Good. Only I shall be the one to kill you, Mikhail. Do stay alive until next we meet... I'd get bored without you." He said, laughing. "Right now, I have things to take care of..." And with that, Nicholai disappeared into the darkness.

After a while since the fight with Ada, Nicholai blinked. Something felt funny deep down inside of him, as if the virus inside was going crazy. His body felt colder than normal, as he dropped to a knee. "What... What is happening.. to.. Me!" He cried out, before gritting his teeth and closing his eyes in pain. Suddenly, spikes ripped out through his uniform all along Nicholai's spine, stopping at the end of his shirt. His arms suddenly increased in mass, becoming pale like before, and his arms became totally Tyrant-like, the fingers becoming nothing more than elongated claws, though his left arm's claws became slightly longer than his right. He was racked with pain, for this was the first time his body was going through the change in a long time. Thus the reason for the screaming, as his body was attempting to adjust and deal with the sudden rush of pain. The yells did not go unheard, however, as the Man in Black himself, Albert Wesker, looked towards the direction of the scream. "Hmmm... Seems something interesting is happening..." He said with a small smirk. Walking along the street for a moment, he decided to take to the rooftops. Acting rather calmly, he never stopped his walk, as he crouched and suddenly leaped into the air, soaring high despite the fact he seems nothing more than a human. Landing in a crouching position, Wesker leaped once more, this time taking less time. Leaping across the rooftops like they were mere trampolines, Wesker headed towards the area of the scream's origin.

Wesker's leaps finally ended, and he rose from his crouch slowly. Looking forwards, the humanoid B.O.W. saw something that seemed like another of his kind. Obviously a man at least once, he was adorned with spikes all along his spine and back, and he was turning somewhat Tyrant. Wesker smirked. 'Hmm..' He thought, looking the man over as he decided to notice Wesker as well. He was obviously once an Umbrella mercenary, probably in the U.B.C.S. division from the uniform's basics, and one of the higher ranks due to his look and demeanor. "You're him..." The man stated, a smile appearing over his once pain-ridden face. "I was wondering if I would ever meet the great Albert Wesker in person again... It's been such a long time.." Nicholai said with a smirk. "Ah.. You must be Ginovaef..." Wesker muttered, almost as if he really didn't care. Nicholai smirked. "So you have heard of me." He said with a chuckle. "Pretty much... People said I was a backstabber... Looks like you just took the cake." Wesker said with a smirk. "Well, if you want some of the icing, by all means, I'll share." Nicholai said, flexing his hands and extending the claws. "Oh, so you want to have a little scuffle? Please... I'd mop the floor with you. You are inferior to me in every way possible..." Wesker said, adjusting his shades, pulling his black gloves tighter on his hands shortly after. "You may have gained your powers some other way... But I gained them in the most unique way ever.." Nicholai said, bragging and rubbing it in Wesker's cold, emotionless face. "Oh? And what way would make it so damn special?" Wesker said, a slight sneer in his voice. "Oh... Gaining it from Thanatos. The -ONLY- Thanatos. Umbrella never got their greedy hands on him to mass produce him, especially since Greg was such an egotist and maniac." Nicholai said with a smirk. "Look who's calling the kettle black..." Wesker muttered.

"Enough talk..." Nicholai said, taking a stance. "It's time we get to the fight." Nicholai said, before rushing Wesker. "Ah yes. The ever popular battle of the superhumans.. How droll." Wesker said with a bored yawn, suddenly disappearing before Nicholai's claws even got halfway to him. Nicholai blinked, only to find his face already flat on the rooftop below his feet. "Come now... Mr. Perfection... Let's see your moves.." Wesker said, laughing slightly as he took a few steps back, and folded his arms over his chest. "Bastard..." Nicholai muttered, before charging and slashing like crazy. Wesker's movements were both awe-inspiring and somewhat beautiful, seeming like a dance of some sort. No matter how hard or fast Nicholai slashed, it seemed like Wesker was always just the right amount of time ahead of him for it to not even matter. Growing aggrivated, Nicholai tried to fake Wesker out. A fake crescent moon slash almost worked, but as Nicholai stabbed forward, hoping to plunge his claw through Wesker, he found Wesker balancing himself on his claws. "And from here... You can have a nice view of my foot." Wesker said, grinning as he did a backflip, slamming his left foot straight into Nichoali's jaw, sending him into a flip too. Both landed at the same time, though Nicholai landed on his stomach, while Wesker landed on his feet. Smirking, Wesker adjusted his shades. "I thought you were perfection... Where is this superb 'elite' combat strength you kept insinuating with your boasts?" Wesker said, taunting Nicholai. Nicholai knew his anger would not help him in the fight much, but he could not help it. No one had ever humiliated him in such a way, and he could not help but grow even more aggrivated. 'He's playing me like a fool . . . I'm just a child to him . . . ' Nicholai thought, slowly getting to his feet. "You're going to pay for this, one way or another . . . " Nicholai muttered, cracking his neck. "Sorry . . . I didn't bring my check book . . . " Wesker said with a smirk. Nicholai narrowed his eyes. "You're still mortal . . . Just like everything else. You have some form of a weakness . . . And I'll be the one to find it and bring you down . . . I swear . . . " Nicholai stated. "We shall see . . . " Wesker said with a smirk. Nicholai sliced for Wesker, and Wesker dodged. For once, Wesker was only a fifth slow, and had recieved a new scratch on his right cheek from Nicholai's claw. "See? That only proves my point. If you can be scratched . . . You can be killed." Nicholai said, grinning. Taking a few steps back, he demutated himself with much pain and focus, before stepping onto the rooftop edge. "We'll meet again . . . " Nicholai muttered, as he simply hopped off the rooftop, plunging to the streets below. "Yes... We will . . . " Wesker muttered, smirking. Looking to the sky above, the moon was ever beautiful. "A perfect night . . . Wouldn't you say?" He said with a devilish smile. Ada could only smile back, not knowing what to say.

Mikhail groaned with slight pain, filled with sleep. It felt like an eternity since his body had decided to move. "Mikhail, you're awake. That's great." A familiar voice said. Mikhail barely caught the message, blinking his eyes as they tried to focus. "George . . . ? Where's the scar-faced guy?" Mikhail said, looking around. "Oh, you mean Krauser. Well, he's observing our camp and everything. He said he's decided not to cause trouble, for now." George said, a look of slight worry on his face. "I don't know how long 'for now' will last, though. You should try and catch up to him. He shouldn't be too far." George waited for Mikhail to get up, then pointed in the direction he took off in. Mikhail nodded, and went after the man who had earlier gotten into one hellacious fight with him. Krauser leaned against a wall, boredly juggling his combat knife. "Damn this place is boring . . . and I've only been awaken ten minutes . . . " Krauser muttered. "There you are . . . " Mikhail muttered. "Oh. Hi there. Don't mind me. Just enjoying the scenery...And boredom." Krauser said, scoffing lightly as he resheathed his combat knife. "Well, it's not much, but we make due with what we have." Mikhail said. "Seems like there'd be more people around . . . Even with an explosion that big." Krauser said, arching his left eyebrow, it obviously a question as well as a statement."Oh, there are. We're divided into groups. There's mini camps and somewhat cities within this giant death trap, where the survivors try to continue doing just that: surviving." Mikhail said. "I try to support every one of them the best I can." He said, looking around. "Sounds hard." Krauser said, yawning. "It's definately not easy.." Mikhail retorted, moving to also lean up against the wall. "You know...You're pretty tough, for a human." Krauser said with a smirk. "And you're pretty good at combat...for a young pompous fool." Mikhail said, smirking right back. Krauser laughed. "You're lucky I didn't use all my power, old man. I'd of mopped the floor with you." Krauser replied, his smirk now more of a sneer. "Perhaps we'll have a rematch...Someday." Mikhail said. "Yeah..." Krauser said, a look on his face showing almost a hint of anticipation. Mikhail's face showed hunger. "Quick...To the food court!" Mikhail said, rushing off. "Hey ,wait up!" Krauser said, rushing after Mikhail.

NYX was hungry. The need for food overwhelmed it as it slipped slowly through the shadows. It had long since devoured most of the survivors in that sector, and moving to another sector would prove difficult. Food was scarce; very rarely did a drunken fool stumble into the warm, growling embrace of death. They had learned. Then another had come along. NYX acknowledged the man's presence by oozing out to meet him. The man had, of course, screamed something NYX could not entirely understand. A quick scuffle had the man out on top, but he chose to scramble away. NYX was beginning to grow very annoyed. He oozed slowly after the man, dwelling on his hunger and his desire to eat more than once every week or so. Sure, inanimate objects provided sustenance, but the human body provided something else entirely- blood. Oh, the sweet coppery taste as it was crushed from the human's body to flow and mix with the jelly that was NYX. Nothing else had quite such a succulent taste. Had NYX been mortal, one would call it tantalizing, an addiction. The thing wasn't entirely capable of becoming addicted, but it enjoyed the taste very much. The scent of the human's sweat, the sound of pounding blood told NYX that the human was somewhere nearby. Had it had a face, NYX would have smirked.

Arnold leaned heavily against a wall, feet scraping the shards of glass that littered the streets. His eyes were wild, dark hair flattened against his skull, wet and slightly sticky with god knows what. That... thing had come out of nowhere, grumbling ominously and sliming the cracked and glass-littered concrete beneath it. After letting loose a colorful string of curses, he had pulled out his small handgun and started firing off bullets, metal hitting the thing with a sick, wet squelching noise. It paused in its advance, though, almost as if confused. Then a blob of whatever that thing was shot out like a tentacle and nailed him in the face, sending him reeling onto his back. Two clips had passed, the third looking dangerously close to being empty, until the creature had quivered and shrunk slightly. Arnold took the opportunity to sprint off in the general direction of his base sector, checking wildly over his shoulder at every corner. That was how he had come to be in the position he was in. The man breathed for a moment, then grimaced at his handgun. His last clip was over half-way empty. He would have to be careful.

Just before he made to slink off towards his base, a sharp, mocking voice cut across the tense silence. Arnold whirled. There, standing atop a desolate, near-collapsed building, was the one being that could take down a Tyrant with a flick of his wrist. Too bad he wasn't on their side. Nicholai's arms were crossed and his pale, icy blue eyes were trained on the man below him. His sharp ears picked up the lumbering of NYX, accompanied with hushed tinkling of glass. Nicholai sneered, then casually jumped down in front of Arnold, landing with a feline grace. He didn't hesitate to getting into the other's face. "Look at you, you coward. You're so far from perfection. Why do I waste my time on you?" Arnold simply glared. Nicholai's sneer grew more vicious as he started peeling a glove off. "Stupid man... I'll let you witness perfection before I slice the flesh off of your bones."

With that, the protective outer jacket came off, along with the shirt underneath, leaving Nicholai shirtless. He turned away from Arnold and furrowed his brow in concentration. His spine and shoulders rippled under his flesh, and just a moment later, the huge blades spurted from his back. Blood ran from the slits in the flesh, but the narrow cuts healed soon after, almost as if they had never been there. The only evidence was dark blood tracks running down his muscular, rippling back. Arnold stared at the transformation. It was terrifying and yet... almost imperceptibly beautiful. Nicholai shot a smirk over his shoulder, then grasped one of the spikes coming from his back. With an almighty wrench, the blade ripped free of Nicholai's left shoulder. It was speedily regenerated, and again the new wounds healed. The mutated Nicholai clomped off in the direction that Arnold had come running from. The man couldn't decide whether to follow Nicholai or to return to Mikhail and report the creature. In the end, his shoulders stiffened, and he turned on his heel and strode purposefully toward his base sector.

What was that? It was different. It smelled like blood, but different than all the other fools that came his way. It had a more coppery smell to it, and it reeked of rotting flesh, a scent not found near NYX. It reeked of the T-virus. NYX immediately became excited and focused in on the scent. He hadn't been a moment around a corner when his gaze fell upon the source of the blood. There stood a man, obviously a Tyrant. He was throwing a blade up and down, catching it. Small, air-spread streaks of blood ran along the blade. The man smirked and called out to the creature. "Hello, odious one. You look hungry. Why don't you try taking a bite out of me?" With that, he rushed forward and stabbed at NYX with the blade. It stuck, however, and NYX began pulling it in. Nicholai sneered with disgust and jumped backward. "So, I see you're not so easily defeated. Good... maybe you'll provide more entertainment than the others." He reached behind him and ripped out about five of the smaller blades. A loud sound of metal on bone told NYX that they had regenerated. With a leisurely flick of his wrist, Nicholai sent the blades flying towards the apparent head of the beast. NYX flinched as they went zooming by, obviously a challenge. It was excited; Tyrants were rare these days. He wanted to feel that muscular body crushed deep within him; he wanted to taste that blood throughout his body as it mixed with his viscous organs. He reared up and, with a guttural growl, lashed a tentacle at him. It roared when its tentacle–

Nicholai watched his blade seep into the blob before him, then jumped backwards. His face wrinkled in disgust as his feet touched ground again. Then he laughed. "So, I see you're not so easily defeated. Good... maybe you'll provide more entertainment than the others." He reached behind him and, with no amount of care, ripped five blades out of his spine. He barely flinched, and the pain was gone momentarily anyway. He smirked and threw a blade at the creature. It sailed past its head, just a challenge. This seemed to excite the blob, as it sent a gooey tentacle his way. With just a slight adjustment of his back, the tentacle was sliced right through the middle by one of the larger blades jutting out of Nicholai's shoulder. The thing roared and retracted the jelly, seemingly angry. It began moving toward Nicholai, growling gutturally. Nicholai laughed loudly at the creature. "Aw, did the poor jelly get a nasty scrape? Let me fix it for you!" he said jauntily, throwing another blade at the thing. It merely absorbed to blade, keening with monstrous delight. Nicholai sneered and threw the blades down, then placed his hands on his hips. "Disgusting creature, you enjoyed that, didn't you? Well, how about this, runt?" He concentrated on his mutation, and soon large claws sprouted from the ends of his fingers, clacking together and dripping blood. He ran at the thing, hand drawn back, then swiped the claws across the jelly near the thing's apparent head. It roared and cringed, trying to get away from the claws. Nicholai grinned manically at the thing, then taunted it again.

"Odious beast, did you not like the poison? Ha. Weak, pathetic thing. You are witnessing perfection! You should bow before me! In fact, I think I'll make you." Then NYX was assaulted with something it was not familiar with. The area around its head was burning and pulsing. There was a sick, warm curdling in the pit of its gullet, and it didn't know what it was. NYX did not like this new feeling. It shifted to dodge the claws and struggled not become consumed with rage. The taunts about perfection hit home; it seemed that the man knew it, too. He was smirking cruelly and clacking his claws together leisurely. NYX came to a decision: he did not like this Tyrant. It wanted to consume him and get it over with, but this man seemed to radiate something. Something powerful, something that NYX did not want to touch. It experimentally shot a tentacle out at the Tyrant, trying to inflict damage. To its neverending shock, the tentacle missed. The man didn't even seem to move, almost as if he had just phased to the right to avoid the shot. NYX felt that uncomfortable coiling again, and decided that hunger was better than death. It backed slowly into the shadows.

Nicholai spread his arms and took a step after the thing. "What, leaving so soon, jelly? It was just getting fun! Come on, blob, come witness the extent of perfection..." NYX disappeared into the shadow. It felt the blown-out windows of a basement at its back and oozed through the opening. Nicholai sneered, then turned and leaped onto the roof behind him. He sprinted across the rooftops, dull light reflecting off of the blades on his back. For just a moment, the light seemed to make them into wings, light dripping from the edges.

Back in the basement, NYX faced a dilemma. The burning wasn't stopping. He had tried consuming some of the blue plant that grew wildly in the corner, but that had no effect. It decided to try and force the poison out. It concentrated on the burn, and soon the effort was rippling through the thing's body, and something yellowish began to seep out of the place where the wound would be. It rippled more, groaning slightly, until the poison had been mostly ejected from its system. An uncomfortable barb had implanted itself under the thing's surface, and it wouldn't come out. It felt like a thorn, or a really nasty splinter. Trying to get it out just hurt more, and NYX hated pain.

Nicholai sprinted along the rooftops, light bouncing playfully off of the blades. He snickered as he saw the pathetic man from before. Another opportunity to "treat" the pathetic mortals. Smooth as silk, he leapt from the rooftop and landed in front of the man, silent as a cat. The man fell and cursed fluently for a moment, yanking a few pieces of shattered glass from his backside before sneering at the Tyrant before him. "What, get tired of beating the crap out of a blob of goo?"

Nicholai snorted and crossed his arms. "It would have been more fun if little Jelly hadn't oozed away before I could finish it. I decided to come after you, you seemed like a much more... bloody victim." Arnold seethed. "Blow me, you traitorous bastard. I'll tell Mikhail about you, and--" The man found himself against the wall, a very large and venomous looking talon sticking through his shoulder and into the brick behind him. Nicholai seemed furious for the first time. He got right in Arnold's face and growled, "You'll do nothing of the sort, half-pint. I'll slash you in half six different ways if you do. You hear me, imperfect son of a bitch?" Arnold stared fearfully into the Tyrant's eyes. They were pale, a swirling silver and blue, and his entire form radiated madness. He nodded, and then the blade was gone, along with its owner. Arnold fell to his knees, clasping a hand to his shoulder in an attempt to stop the blood. He seriously hoped that the talon wasn't as poisonous as it looked as he started toward the base again.

Mikhail rubbed the bandage on the side of his head forlornly.

"What happened after the missiles hit? How did you establish these camps?"

Mikhail looked at the man before him. Krauser was standing coolly against a wall, arms folded. "It's kind of a long story." "I have time." Krauser smirked.

The former U.B.C.S. Lieutenant took a deep breath. "Alright... the missiles that hit were supposed to be nuclear. That's what we were told, anyway. However, it didn't destroy everything, as we had anticipated. There were still traces of the T-virus, still Tyrants running around. We figured that the survivors should split up, set up bases in every sector of the city to eliminate what was left of the virus. Every camp has capable fighters and plenty of ammunition, so we have a fairly easy time of disposing of the zombies. It's the Tyrants we're worried about. There are still some we don't know of, and some we do know of but haven't manage to exterminate. Recently, we lost contact with the eastern quadrant. I already sent some of my men out to investigate, but we haven't heard back from them." "How long ago were the men sent out?" Krauser asked. "Just yesterday, and with Raccoon being in the shape it's in, it takes two days to get from quadrant to quadrant. There are still mobs of zombies lurking around. We have yet to figure out where they're coming from. One of my colleagues thinks that there are bodies around the city that are being infected by some of the smarter Tyrants, especially those in the graveyards." Krauser whistled. "I assume Raccoon has a lot of bodies lying around, then?" Mikhail nodded his head. "Unfortunately, yes. We have yet to find a safe way of disposing of the bodies." "Have you considered baiting the Tyrants with the destroyed bodies of the zombies?" Krauser asked. "Yes, and for a while, we did that. Then they caught on, and stopped taking the bait. Some of the smarter Tyrants knew what was going on from the beginning, and stayed away."

Krauser was interrupted by the door violently being knocked off of its hinges and revealing a bloody, wild-looking form. The Tyrant was on the man in a moment, pressing his knife against soft flesh. He would have tacked the intruder to a wall, but then the body started reeking of fear; definitely a human trait. He chuckled and backed off of the man, throwing his knife up and catching it. Mikhail recognized the man quickly "Arnold!" "Mikhail, sorry about the door, but I saw a Tyrant in the eastern sector. I lost the rest of the party you sent out there." Arnold said, catching his breath. "Another Tyrant?" Mikhail asked. "So, that's why we haven't-- hey, Krauser, where are you going?" Krauser smirked over his shoulder. "To take care of your little problem in the eastern sector, of course. My way." And with that, he was gone. Arnold stared after the large, arrogant-looking man, then turned back to Mikhail. "Sir, the Tyrant I ran into isn't like the other solid Tyrants. He seems to be made of some sort of jelly, and he absorbed a good amount of my ammunition when the bullets pierced its surface. I really don't advise that man going after it, no matter how strong he is." Mikhail stared out the door. "I think he'll be fine. He's stronger than he looks. Let's get you bandaged up..."

NYX oozed out of the basement and out onto the streets once more. It was still hungry, even after devouring a good four men. Fighting that white-haired man hadn't helped its appetite. It oozed quietly along the street, knocking out a window with its tentacles, looking for a meal. Then, it felt a large pressure momentarily near its middle, then an unpleasant slash at the back of its head. "Tch. Tough bastard," a gruff voice said. NYX was starting to feel a slight dripping on the back of its head, and it tried to turn its head to see its assailant, roaring and growling offendedly. "Well, you don't look like too much of a pushover. I guess I could fight you... if you promise not to die too quickly." NYX growled at its assailant. The attacker smelled the same as a Tyrant, and it sounded like a man. Its gut grumbled, eager to taste this new Tyrant's gore and it was crushed from his body. Krauser jumped off of the Tyrant, making sure to give it an uncomfortable gash along the top of its skull as he went.

Krauser sniffed exaggeratedly at the air, then said, "Eurgh, what a disgusting creature... I'd better do away with you quickly." He jumped onto the creature's head, giving a stomp, before driving his knife into its left eye. He yanked it out and jumped onto a nearby apartment balcony. He crossed his arms, watching the creature scream and wiggle in agony. A rock skittered on the roof on the apartment building. Krauser turned and stared up at the roof. There stood another man, obviously a Tyrant, smirking cockily at the creature below. "I see you've found jelly. Good work, though I was hoping to defeat the beast myself." "And who the hell might you be?" Krauser barked. "That doesn't concern you. Are you sure you're smart enough to beat jelly? It can be quite vicious, and you look very... unintelligent. That could just be me, however. Intelligence is a given when you're perfect in every way." Krauser growled. "Perfect? You call yourself perfect? Hah. You're pathetic." "Let's see how you fare against jelly, then," Nicholai sneered. Krauser smirked and jumped back in front of the writhing monster. It was fitfully trying to rub its punctured eye, hoping to alleviate some of the pain. It noticed vaguely that its opponent was back in fighting position. The man reeked of wrath. NYX backed away slightly, its perspective all but shot, mind blurred by the pain in its eye. The man's left arm had changed into a fearsome, jagged-looking blade. "Here, disgusting creature, are you afraid? Don't worry, I'll make your death quick."

NYX growled and shot one of its tentacles at the man. He tried to block it, but the tentacle merely skimmed the edge of the blade before connecting with his face. He stumbled back, rubbing his now-bleeding nose. Some of the blood smeared onto the tentacle, and fused with NYX's body when it retracted the projectile. NYX grew excited at the taste of the blood; it was still quite hungry. Krauser grimaced and prepared to attack again, when a call from the roof disturbed his thoughts of jelly-massacre. "It's quite the little bugger, isn't it? I warned you. You may be a Tyrant, but you're no match for jelly. Even I couldn't kill it so easily. You don't stand a chance!" Krauser ducked down, grabbed a large rock, and quickly hurled it towards the voice. "Of course I won't be able to beat it if you won't shut up!" The rock came hurtling back at him, sailing near his head and skittering across the pavement. He snarled, then turned his attention back to the creature.

NYX could smell that man again. The one from before, the one who dared to poison the great NYX. The only Tyrant NYX feared. He seemed an angel in the light; strong and bright, but bloodthirsty and downright dangerous. It wanted to escape, but it didn't want to lose its current meal. It came to a conclusion and quickly about-faced, shooting a tentacle out to wrap around its meal's waist. It then proceeded to escape as fast as it could, dragging its cursing meal along. The demon's taunting voice came from above, directed not at NYX, but at its meal. It could feel rage radiate off of its victim, pulsing and angry. He was struggling as he was dragged along the ground, yelling in a language NYX could not quite grasp.

Nicholai watched the blonde being dragged along the ground by the jelly with a wide, mocking smirk on his face. He stepped easily from rooftop to rooftop, laughing at Krauser's seemingly feeble struggles and curses. "Need a little help, maggot?" He taunted. Even at this distance, Nicholai could feel the rage his mocking brought on. It was almost intoxicating. He laughed when a door broke open near the jelly, revealing a bloody, tattered zombie. The creature was taken care of in a quick second, absorbed by another tentacle. The blonde saw this and grimaced, looking around for something to dig into a great crack in the pavement. His eyes fell upon a bloody, abandoned crowbar. He sheathed his knife and grabbed the tool, then held it high above his head and dug it deep into a crack in the pavement, trying to impede the oozing and dragging. The tool snapped clean in two with a great crack, and Nicholai nearly went into hysterics. "So, maggot, is jelly giving you a hard time? I must say, it looks like it's having a grand old time, dragging you along the pavement like that." Nichoali taunted again. He easily dodged the handle of the crowbar, laughing merrily. Then, just like that, jelly was gone, as was the blonde man. Nicholai cursed and looked around, trying to spot the two. It was to no avail, though; they were gone.

Mikhail glared at the doorway as if it had grievously offended him. "Sir . . . he's been gone--" One of his men said. "Yes, I know. Come on." He replied, sounding worried. He grabbed his rocket launcher and started out into the city, ignoring sputtered objections from his charges. They should know better than to get in the way of an agitated Mikhail with rockets at his disposal. He settled into a fast jog toward the eastern sector, vaguely aware of someone running behind him. He stopped at an intersection and turned, seeing a bandaged Arnold heaving and trying to catch his breath. "Arnold! You should be at the base, that wound could have skimmed your lung." Mikhail said. "I know, but you need to know where that thing came from. There's a warehouse not far from here with a giant hole in the wall. That's where you'll find the blob and, most likely, Krauser." Arnold said, clutching his wound a bit. "All right, you've informed me. Now go back to the base." Mikhail said. "Fine, but be careful," the brunette said before turning and starting back toward the base. Mikhail stared after him for a moment before starting toward the warehouses. If Arnold was correct and the Tyrant was in the warehouse, then it would have the upper hand. On the other hand, with both a rocket launcher and Krauser against it, it might not stand a chance. It was all up to timing.

Dragging Krauser back to its 'nest', NYX felt that perhaps the being known as Nicholai would ease off the harassment, or maybe lose track of them. The zombie that had been absorbed had finally stopped moaning and moving, and that felt a lot better to NYX. It was unaware that Nicholai was hoping for NYX to do this, due to the fact that it would be practically trapped, thus making it easier should NYX decide to rest after feeding. But, fate would not smile on NYX, as a well-placed rocket slammed right into the exposed heart of the Tyrant that was dwelling within it, making it instantly let go of Krauser in pain. That single rocket would not be enough to kill NYX, but it gave Krauser a grand opportunity. Either escape, or finish NYX off with his arm blade. Anger was all that consumed Krauser's judgement, as he took his arm blade, and drove it angrily into NYX not once, not twice, but at least ten times. NYX gave out shrill cries of pain and then finally, its death moan.

Nicholai narrowed his eyes. 'Damn . . . He's tougher than I thought . . . No matter.' Nicholai thought to himself, cracking his neck to either side. Nicholai looked over to see who had been wielding the rocket launcher which had fired the well-placed rocket, only to have his angry thoughts be confirmed. It was Mikhail who had fired the rocket. 'Damn him . . . Damn him and his stupid rocket launcher.' Nicholai gritted his teeth as he decided it was best to take off. In the blink of an eye, Nicholai Ginovaef disappeared.

The explosion from the rocket seemed to echo through the city, catching the attention of none other than Albert Wesker. Narrowing his eyes behind his pitch black shades, Wesker wasted no time heading towards the explosion. The shrill cries and death moan also made him make haste, and he happened upon the scene of Mikhail and Krauser, able to tell from the looks of the scene that Mikhail had helped Krauser. "Now why would a former Umbrella soldier help someone like Krauser...?" He muttered under his breath, rubbing his chin with his left hand, pondering the possibilities. 'Perhaps this soldier that was once under Umbrella's employ may prove useful to me... To have handled something like NYX with unusual expertise...' Wesker thought to himself.

Mikhail blinked, feeling as though someone was watching Krauser and himself. Turning on his heels, he stood face to face with the Man in Black himself, Albert Wesker. He had heard rumors of Wesker's exploits during his S.T.A.R.S. days, and knew that he was with Umbrella for a short while as well. There was a small silence between the two, Krauser blinking at their silence.

Mikhail and Krauser's attention turned to the Man in Black himself. No, not Johnny Cash, though that wouldn't be too bad, now would it? Ahem. It's none other than Albert Wesker. Wesker smiled, looking at the scene, turning his attention to Mikhail. "Well done, Mr. Victor." His smile never fading as he spoke those words. "How . . . How did you know my name?" Mikhail said, his eyes narrowing. Krauser blinked. Something about his boss wasn't the same. Then he noticed it, and blinked. A small scar, barely noticeable, grazed itself along his cheek. 'Wow...Someone got lucky or Wesker shaves with his combat knife..' Krauser thought to himself. Wesker ignored Krauser's stare, focusing on the matter at hand. "I know because it's my business to know...You're a very strong human, Mikhail." "So you're like Krauser..." He stated, putting away the rocket launcher and folding his arms over his chest, his gaze focusing on Wesker. He couldn't exactly see through the thick black shades, but there was definately something inhuman those sunglasses. "You must be...Who else but a monster would wear sunglasses at night?" Mikhail made the comment before Wesker could respond, making Wesker blink behind his shades. "Trust me, Mikhail. I do not take kindly to insults..." Wesker said, a red light flaring behind his shades for but a second, long enough for Mikhail to catch it. Mikhail smirked. "I remember Jill telling me about a blonde man with shades...You're Albert Wesker..I thought you seemed familiar." He said with a smirk. "You were with Umbrella, but also S.T.A.R.S."

Wesker laughed a little. "It seems you can't be the Mystery Man anymore..." Wesker said with a bit of a sarcastic tone and sigh following. "I do not do this often...But I am offering you a chance. A chance to become something more than what you are...To go beyond your human restraints...And become a god among mortals!" Wesker said, his mouth forming a smile again, as if he was truly a god. In reality, he was not that far from it. Mikhail blinked again, and gave a sneer. "I don't need your power...I'm not going to become a lap dog like Krauser here." Mikhail said, as he pushed past Wesker. Wesker didn't take a step back, but he stared Mikhail down as he began to walk off. "HEY! I'M NOT A LAP DOG!" Krauser shouted, shaking his fist at Mikhail. "I'll make you pay for that!" Krauser unsheathed his knife, and begins to charge. Wesker's hand met his chest. "No...Let him go. He will come to join us...Soon..." Wesker said.

Nicholai Ginovaef had been watching the whole scene, a big grin on his face. "Well well..A gathering of the fools." He said to himself, laughing lightly. He did not want to be seen just yet. Deciding to have a little fun, Nicholai watched them, and began to put on a show. "I am Albert Wesker. Fear my super slicked back hair. Ho-yeah! I'm the Man in Black. Mr. Dead." He said in a remarkabley good impression of Wesker's voice. Since Wesker kept talking, he kept impersonating. "I would like you to join my squad of super-human beings. Why? Well..YOUR BERET IS SO COOL! IT'S ALMOST AS COOL AS MY SHADES! MWUAHAHAHAH! MYES!" Nicholai had to stop to laugh a moment. Then, Mikhail spoke, and Nicholai did a mockery of an impression, even making fun of Mikhail's accent despite the fact he had one too. "Vell..I don't no...I haff to theenk about it." He said. And then Mikhail spoke once more. "I don't theenk I vill be applyink for the job. I haff to go make a poopy. Excuse me." And then Mikhail pushed by Wesker, and Krauser yelled. "DON'T FORGET TO WASH YOUR HANDS!" Nicholai could not contain his laughter, and finally let it explode. The three figures below Noticed the laughter, but Mikhail was already down the street and couldn't look back. Wesker and Krauser looked dead at Nicholai. Nicholai grinned, his eyes flaring blue. "You think you're so tough...Just you wait. Once I gain control of my powers properly..You'll be begging for death.." Nicholai said, before standing up full height, bowing almost gentlemanly, flipping them both a bird a piece , and then he was gone.

Leaping out of sight, and into the shadows.

Mikhail had made his way to the University, sighing. He couldn't leave the survivors. They needed a leader, they needed all the help they could get because there were still monsters that somehow survived the bombing, and he couldn't explain why. Maybe there was another underground facility, and the monsters had broken out. It didn't matter. Mikhail was not alone for long, for Krauser stepped out from the shadows. "Look...These people don't need you anymore. I still have contacts in the military, and they're already on their way to assist and relocate the people. You've got no purpose here. Why not come with us? You're a warrior...Come fight. Only makes sense, since it's your best skill." Krauser said with a smirk. "Besides...How can you stand that drunk bastard?" Krauser asked. Mikhail laughed. "Kevin's not so bad, once you get him drunk enough.." Mikhail retorted, turning to face Krauser. "Just because you've got help on the way for these people, doesn't mean I can just leave right away. There's still monsters to contend with. I've got a job to do." Mikhail folded his arms over his chest. "Please...The only monster around is whatever gave Wesker that small nick on his face. It's probably dead by now." Krauser responded. As if on cue, the Man in Black himself stepped out of the darkness, blending in with it almost too perfectly. "Krauser is right, Mikhail. You have no purpose here. My men are already taking care of the monstrosities...The survivors shall be removed and relocated to a much more liveable environment...And this will happen, if you join me. Otherwise, I can always call it off. Afterall, the so called 'lap dog' does work for me. Isn't that right, Krauser?" Wesker said, smirking before turning his head slightly to Krauser and arching a brow. "Yes sir." Krauser said angrily, still hating the fact that Mikhail called him that. 'If he hadn't fallen into Wesker's favor, I'd gut him on the spot.' Krauser thought.

Mikhail rubbed his chin. "You know...I guess I don't have a choice. I care about the safety of those people...And I have a feeling that you really need my services if you are trying to recruit me this bad. Pay had better be good." Mikhail said with a small laugh, stretching to pop his back. Wesker's mouth formed a grin, his eyes flaring up. "Oh the pay's good...Heh heh heh.." Wesker said. "And the dental's great too!" Krauser said, giving a big toothy smile, pearly whites almost blinding Mikhail. "I'll take your word for it." Mikhail muttered out, blinking to refocus his eyes. "Alright...I'll go with you guys. No sense in staying where I'm not needed." Mikhail said, yawning lightly. "Good...We leave in an hour. I suggest you be on time...I don't waste my efforts on lazy buffoons." Wesker muttered, before turning his back to Mikhail. "Come Krauser...We have much to discuss. A new enemy has surfaced...Someone I believe," Wesker turned his head a little, "our friend Mikhail may know." Wesker said. Mikhail barely caught any of it, since it was almost a whisper. Krauser looked to Mikhail, smirking. "Right. Well, let's find the bitch in the red dress." Krauser muttered, unsheathing his knife and twilring it slightly. "About Ada..." Wesker began, and then the two were gone. Mikhail pulled out his radio. "Attention. Everyone with a walkie-talkie. This is Mikhail. I'm calling a conference at the Raccoon University. Be here in 15, stat." Mikhail said. "Mikhail out." And with that, he found a nice place to sit, and wait on the survivors, his men, and his comrades.

On time, his men and the survivors gathered around Mikhail. A huge circle, larger than Mikhail had realized. "Everyone here?" Mikhail asked, smirking. A ton of heads nodded. "Alright. Here's the situation. A 'friend' of mine has contacted the military. You are all to be relocated to a more liveable environment. Raccoon City shall be cleansed by the same 'friend' of mine's group." Mikhail said. "Any questions?" He asked. Kevin stumbled forth. "They gonna give us free beer?" Kevin asked, smiling drunkenly. Mikhail blinked, then laughed. "Oh Kevin. You continue to make me laugh. I don't know about that." Mikhail said. "Well, screw that man. The liquor is free here! To hell with relocation!" Kevin threw down a half-empty bottle of beer, it shattering. "...Shit." He muttered. A murmur rose over the crowd. "We can't leave our homes!" A voice cried. "Yeah, this is all we've got!" Another said in response. The murmur grew louder. "Now listen," He tried to calm everyone down, and get to talking again. He looked over to his men, who stood right by him. The second in command unholstered his Beretta M93R, cocked it, and opened fire into the sky. A three round burst flew forth from the muzzle of his gun, causing loud gunfire noises, and hushing the crowd. The second in command smirked, twirled his Beretta on his index finger, and reholstered it. "Alright please continue, sir." The second in command said. "Thank you Daniel.." Mikhail muttered. "Now, listen to me. You will all be cared for and relocated. You have nothing to worry about. Myself and my men are going to leave with our new 'friends', where we can do some good." Mikhail said.

Kevin once again took the floor. "BUT WHAT ABOUT THE BEER!" He shouted. David King stepped out of the crowd, grabbed Kevin by the back of the collar, and tugged. "Shutup, you idiot..." He muttered, pulling Kevin into the crowd. "BEEEEEEEEER!" He cried out, almost like a death moan. "Dammit Kevin, shut up!" Alyssa shouted, stepping up. "Mikhail, I still want to try to interview. You know, to account for all of this and everything." She said with a smile, hoping he would interview with her. "Well, I'd love to." Mikhail said with a smile. "Sorry sweet cheeks, but Mikhail's got more important things than talking to you." A voice said. Everyone turned, and there was Krauser. "Alright Mikhail, the chopper is almost here. You're taking these men with you?" He asked, arching a brow. "Yes. They are excellent soldiers. Trained them myself." Mikhail said proudly. "Well, to have survived all this crap, yes. They are quite excellent. I'm sure Wesker won't mind." Krauser said. "Hey! What about the interview!" Alyssa shouted, smacking Krauser with her notepad. "OW! Hey! That actually hurt." Krauser shouted, Kevin tried to leap and save the beer. His face ended up flying straight into Mark's back, knocking Mark forwards. "HELP ME PLEASE!" Mark cried out, as he fell. David and Cindy were fast enough to catch Mark. Unfortunately, George was not fast enough to catch Kevin, or his beer. "I'm sorry Kevin . . . But it's gone." George said. "No . . . It can't be . . . I DIDN'T EVEN GET TWO SIPS!" Kevin fell to his knees. "DAMN YOU! DAMN YOU TO HELL BLONDE SHADES MAN!" Kevin began to bawl. Wesker grinned. "Oh how I love life.." Wesker muttered, as the chopper landed. The side door opened, and Krauser entered, followed by Mikhail's men.

Mikhail and Wesker were shoulder to shoulder, both turned their gaze to one another. "So . . . Who is this 'familiar face' that I know?" Mikhail asked. "All will be explained on the trip home, Mikhail." Wesker said, patting Mikhail on the shoulder. Mikhail blinked. "Whatever you say, boss man." Mikhail said sarcastically. "I can tell I will grow to like you, Mikhail Victor." Wesker said, laughing slightly as Mikhail got in. "Yeah, I grew to like me too." Mikhail said, closing the door. Sitting down next to his men, Mikhail sighed. 'Out of the frying pan and into the glowing eyes fire.' Mikhail thought, as the chopper lifted off the ground, and then went skyward. Cindy, George, David and Mark, along with all the survivors, waved to the chopper as it left. Kevin was still crying about his beer. "Oh grow up, you big baby . . . " Alyssa muttered. 'My story . . . ' Alyssa thought, crying slightly herself. 'Now I'll never become a rich and famous reporter . . . ' She thought. Suddenly, something caught Alyssa's attention. She heard someone talking, almost in a rant. It was the man named Arnold, the guy that had survived against NYX somehow. "Don't trust that bastard . . . Won't see me going off to my death. No sir." Arnold muttered, angry that Mikhail and the others went without so much as a second word. He fidgeted with his bandages, grumbling. "That fool isn't a doctor . . . Wouldn't know how to help a man with a broken finger." He muttered. Obviously, Arnold was in a very bad mood. But under the circumstances, Alyssa could not blame him. Walking over to Arnold, she stopped just short enough to give Arnold some space. "Hi, Alyssa Ashcroft. I was wondering if you'd give me the honor of interviewing you. Being that you survived all of this hell, I figured maybe you'd like to share some of your exploits with the world." Alyssa said with a smile. Obviously, Arnold's tone changed. He suddenly became nice, and cooperated with Alyssa rather well. Alyssa smiled. 'Looks like I may get what I want after all...' She thought to herself.

For what seemed like an eternity, the survivors were all but alone. Wesker's men had clearly evacuated along with their commanding officer, leaving the survivors defenseless minus those amongst them with some combat experience. Even after they were told they would be safe, the survivors could not help but feel like someone or something was watching, and would soon jump out to attack and/or kill them where they stood, waiting for the military assistance. Just when paranoia and despair reached their peak, a lone survivor who was looking towards the horizon suddenly froze in her tracks. She saw something. It looked like a helicopter! "Hey! Look! A helicopter! And another! And another! Mikhail was right, help is on the way!" She cried with joy, jumping up and down. The survivors went mad with joy now that they knew help was on the way and in sight. Those with guns shot rounds and shells madly into the air, hooting and hollering. Jeeps and large vans were soon in sight as well. Krauser had told the truth, and everyone was in joyous celebration. As the assistance came closer and closer, those with alcohol gave a celebratory cheer and swig with their liquor.

Mikhail took one last look at Raccoon City from above. It truly had went to Hell. 'I only hope Krauser wasn't lying . . . ' Mikhail thought. As if on cue, a band of helicopters flew by their own, and Mikhail jumped back from the suddenness of their arrival. Grinning from ear to ear like a young boy with a new expensive toy all his own, Mikhail looked and saw even more help arriving from the ground. "Told you..." A voice said, causing Mikhail to turn his attention to inside the chopper. Krauser smirked, nodding his head to Mikhail. "I'm not one for lying.." He stated, adjusting his beret. "Welcome to the team, comrade." Krauser said, grinning lightly. "Indeed..." Mikhail muttered, before looking to Wesker. "Now... About this 'familiar' person I should know..." Wesker's mouth formed a smirk, as his eyes lightly flashed behind his shades.

* * *

_Please let me know what you think, all comments are appreciated. _


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